Discovering Family
by Nagem
Summary: I'M BACK! Cheesy title, I know. Sequel to A chance Reunion Yukina begins to wonder what Hiei is keeping from her. Remembering a certian slip of the tongue, she finds out his secret. COMPLETE.
1. And so it begins

First off, if you haven't read "A chance Reunion" then I highly suggest it, otherwise this won't make any sense whatsoever.  
  
And here's the sequel!!  
  
Disclaimer: Me no own Yu Yu Hakusho.  
  
Er, okay, it's a little different for this story, so here goes: "talking" (thoughts) ::mind-to-mind speech:: *accented words. Ya know, like words in italic.* /dreams/ 'talking in the dreams'   
  
"AAAAAAHHHH!! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THING???"  
  
Red eyes watched with an amused gleam as a mass of red hair worked its way out from underneath red sheets. Hiei sighed as another scream rose from Kurama's kitchen, and Kurama himself groaned, and then, spotted Hiei.  
"Hey! What are you doing here?" Kurama asked, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. Just then, another yell sounded, followed by, "Relax!! It's not gonna hurt you, just let me-OUCH!" Kurama groaned and clapped a hand to his face.  
"Hn. Kuronue sent me up here to tell you to get your fox-butt down there to help him," Hiei said. Kurama appeared to loose all will to move and flopped down onto the bed.  
"What did they get into this time?" Kurama asked, managing to haul himself into a sitting position. At that moment, as if on cue, Jeroun burst into the room, tackling Kurama, who fell back down onto the bed, and then proceeded to hide under Kurama's desk.  
"Baka," Hiei murmured as he pulled Kurama to his feet.  
"Thanks," Kurama gasped before walking over to his desk. "Jeroun, you can come out now." The desk rattled a little bit, and Hiei came over. He kicked at it. There was a protesting grunt, and Jeroun crawled his way out from under the desk. His eyes landed on Hiei, and then moved to Kurama. Both youkai noticed Jeroun had what looked like pancake batter in his hair and an eye that was rapidly going black. Jeroun moved away from Kurama.  
"It's not my fault, I swear it isn't!!" he yelled before bolting out of the room, and back into the room that he had occupied since his first night in Kurama's house.  
"So . . . Kuronue found the . . . "  
"Egg-beaters," Hiei finished. Kurama giggled, before hastily turning his laughter into a cough, remembering Hiei's first encounter with the ningen cooking-tool. Unfortunately, Hiei noticed and sent him a death glare that Kurama slowly backed away from. Hiei continued; "So, naturally the baka tried to use them, and then I came in to see Jeroun trying to take them away, while the batter flew around the kitchen. Kuronue told me to come and get you."  
"And you actually listened to him?" Kurama asked as Hiei turned his back to Kurama to let the fox change. Once he had finished, Hiei turned back around.  
"I figured there was no use staying and getting a black eye, so I left," Hiei said shortly. Kurama laughed in obvious agreement with Hiei.  
"Well, I gotta go make sure he doesn't kill himself," Kurama said. Hiei grinned.  
"This might just be worth watching," he said.  
  
Hiei sat on Kurama's living room couch, listening to the kitsune scold Kuronue for using modern appliances that he didn't know how to operate. Hiei had heard the lecture many times before, but it was still fun to hear Kurama scolding someone else.  
"Go get cleaned up, Kuronue, and we'll see if we can clean the kitchen before 'kassan gets home," Kurama said, his voice slightly muffled by the wall in between him and Hiei. For once in his life, Hiei felt himself holding back laughter as he watched the miserable, batter-covered chimera trudge up the stairs to the bathroom. A moment later, a batter- covered Kurama appeared as well, looking worn-out by the morning's events. "Well, there was no one seriously injured, but it's gonna take hours to clean that mess in there." He went to sit down on the couch, but thought better of it.  
"Then why'd you tell him that you thought you could get it cleaned up before your mother got home?" Hiei looked at the kitsune with interest.  
"I didn't want him to feel worse than he already does," Kurama said. Hiei, although he didn't agree with Kurama, nodded.  
"I guess you're right," he said, standing up. Kurama turned to see Jeroun coming down the stairs, and when he turned back, Hiei had vanished.  
  
Leaves brushed by his face as he skimmed the treetops, occasionally glancing down, looking for Kuwabara and his sister. (Damn him,) Hiei thought. (Making a move on my sister like that.) A few days before, Kuwabara asked Yukina if she had wanted to go out for ice cream. So, naturally, when Hiei had "overheard" Kuwabara telling Kurama, Hiei had decided to "tag along" (translation: SPY) to make sure that Kuwabara didn't try anything funny.  
"Hiei!!" Hiei grabbed a branch and pulled himself to a stop before dropping onto the sidewalk to face none other than Yukina. She grinned at him.  
"Y-Yukina," Hiei stuttered. Her red eyes, so much like his own, swept over him once before the girl embraced him.  
"I haven't seen you in a while!" she said as she let go of him. Hiei stood frozen to the spot. He had been *hugged*. No one ever had hugged him before. "Did I do something I shouldn't have?" Hiei unfroze and looked at his sister, who was watching him nervously.  
"No, it's just that . . . " Hiei broke off, slightly embarrassed for having to admit this to his sister. After a moment he continued. "No one's ever . . . done that to me before."  
"Really!" Yukina sounded surprised. Hiei nodded, not meeting her eyes. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Hiei . . . is there something wrong?"  
"No, there's nothing," he said. "Nothing that you can help with anyway." She cocked her head. He cleared his throat. (There's something that he's keeping from me,) Yukina thought. (I know it. The way he doesn't meet my eyes, the way he's always so . . . well, he's silent around everyone, but still. . . . )  
"Well, I'll see you later then," Yukina offered. Hiei nodded slightly before disappearing into the trees again. Hiei scowled as he heard Kuwabara yell a greeting to Yukina a few moments later. (One of these days, you baka, one of these days. . . . )  
  
Erm, no, this isn't the end of the chapter, but I just realized something. I'm not too good at keeping Hiei and Yukina in-character, especially in a fic like this for some reason, so forgive me if they (or anyone) seems a bit OOC   
  
(Sweet snow. . . . ) Hiei drooled as he watched the ice cream store. He wanted sweet snow. He *really* wanted sweet snow. He suddenly slapped himself across the face. (Must watch Yukina. Must protect.) Yep, the lack of ice-cream was starting to get to him. He was so preoccupied with the ice cream that he didn't even notice when someone snuck up behind him.  
"You know Hiei, I'm sure that someone would buy some for you if you asked," a voice behind him said. In spite of himself, Hiei jumped.  
"You!!" Hiei declared, expecting an enemy, whirling around to face. . . . "Kuronue?"  
"Yo," the chimera said, pleased with himself for facing Hiei.  
"I thought you were helping Kurama clean up," Hiei said with a scowl. He crossed his arms and leaned against the trunk of the tree he had been hiding in.  
"I was," Kuronue said. "But then Shiori got home. She was pretty pissed, so I left and Kurama retreated to his room." Kuronue grinned. "He still hasn't got all the batter of himself."  
"It must be starting to dry," Hiei offered, unsure of why he was making conversation with the chimera. Kuronue's grin grew wider, and Hiei began to get annoyed with it.  
"It is," Kuronue said. "He was muttering something about it being bad for his hair." Hiei choked back a laugh at the thought of the kitsune trying to wash out his hair.  
"Hey, who's up there?" Through the thick branches of the tree Hiei and Kuronue could see Kuwabara looking up at them, Yukina at his side. Hiei growled. "Is that you, Shrimp?"  
"Kazuma, that's not very nice," Yukina scolded. "I'm short, and you don't call me shrimp." Kuronue tried to hold back laughter, while Hiei went and fell out of the tree.  
"Something wrong, *Hiei*?" Kuwabara asked. It was obvious that he was only calling Hiei by his proper name as not to upset Yukina again. Hiei scowled at him before picking himself up and brushing off his black clothes. Ignoring Kuwabara, Hiei turned to Yukina.  
"Why did you . . . defend me?" Hiei asked. Yukina blinked, caught off- guard by the question. Kuwabara hit Hiei on the head, trying to get the fire-youkai's attention, and succeeded only in getting flipped onto his back.  
"I-I'm sorry," Yukina stuttered. "Did I offend you?" She looked down, not meeting his eyes. Hiei felt a stab of guilt for making his sister feel bad, but shook it off after a few moments.  
"No," Hiei said. "I just wanted to know why you care for me." Yukina's head shot up as Hiei got ready to leave.  
"You've helped me," she said. "You helped Kazuma and Yusuke save me." Even though Yukina did not like to bring up the painful memories, for some odd reason she felt a need to make Hiei feel as though he was not all bad. Hiei paused his jump, but did not look back at her.  
"I-I . . . " Hiei started, at a complete loss for words. There were a few moments of silence, and then Hiei took off, jumping into the trees. Yukina turned away, and noticed Kuwabara on the ground.  
"Kazuma!" Yukina cried. "Are you all right?" At that moment, Kuronue leapt from the trees and poked at Kuwabara. The human twitched, but did not move.  
"I think Hiei knocked him out," Kuronue murmured. Yukina smiled to herself. (There's something about Hiei that I like, even though he doesn't talk,) she thought.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Shuichi will be down in a moment."  
  
Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Jeroun, Kuronue, and Botan sat in Kurama's living room, waiting for the fox. Hiei sat scowling at Kuwabara, remembering the earlier encounter, while Kuwabara glared at him. The others knew better than to try and stop them.  
"So . . . tell me why Koenma wanted us to meet here again?" Yusuke asked, folding his arms. "The toddler's late." Botan fidgeted nervously.  
"He said there was someone that he was going to bring," Botan said. The thing was, she knew perfectly well who Koenma was bringing, and didn't like to think about the others' reactions.  
"Who?"  
"Er-" Botan began, but Kurama entered at that moment, and everyone had to laugh. The poor kitsune still hadn't managed to get all of the pancake batter out of his hair, so it stuck out in odd clumps, having been dry for a long time. Botan, even though she was nervous, laughed along with the others.  
"Please don't laugh," Kurama said. His eyes suddenly landed on Kuronue. "Hey, Kuro, you have this stuff in your hair, too!" Everyone quieted and looked over at the chimera, who pulled his hat down firmly onto his head. At that moment, the doorbell rang.  
"Get that for me, will you, Shuichi?" Kurama had thought she would call him by his true name, but old habits die hard.  
"'Kassan, I have batter in my hair still," Kurama said.  
"It's probably just Koenma," Yusuke said. "And he won't mind."  
"Yeah, he'll just laugh like the rest of you," Kurama said, sulking as he went to open the door. Botan swallowed hard.  
"I don't know if that's a good-" she began, but was cut off by a loud yell. Seconds later, Kurama burst into the room, seemingly running for his life.  
"Hey, what's wrong?" Kuronue asked as Jeroun threw himself out of Kurama's way. Kurama ignored the both of them and dove under the coffee table. Kuronue peered under it. "Kurama?" Everyone stared at the obviously terrified kitsune.  
"You can relax, Kurama, he's not going to hurt you," Botan said. Everyone whirled to stare at her.  
"Who?" Yusuke demanded. "You know after all?"  
"Hai," Botan said, and a moment later Koenma appeared in the room. To everyone's surprise, Kurama got out from under the coffee table and rounded on him.  
"What, might I ask," Kurama said, trying to keep his voice even. "Is *he* doing here?" Kurama jabbed a finger at the newest occupant of the room, who was standing in a corner. Everyone stared, for in the corner stood none other than Karasu.  
"Well," Koenma said. "When he told you that his first guide to the Spirit World was not as watchful as she should have been, he wasn't entirely truthful. Turns out that he threatened her, so none of the other ferry girls wanted to take him, not even Botan." At this point, Kurama threw his version of Hiei's death-glare in Botan's direction. "As a result, I had to let him come back to life." Koenma shrank away from Kurama, fearing for his life.  
"Don't tell me you're not happy to see me fox," Karasu said, moving toward Kurama. Kurama dove under the coffee table again.  
"What's wrong with you?" Kuronue asked. "You weren't this scared when you faced him before, in the Makai, remember?"  
"He had my mother!" Kurama shouted from under the coffee table. "That's the only reason I even thought of fighting him again!!" Kuronue and Jeroun, who had been absent at the time of Karasu's first appearance, stared at the crow. Karasu shrugged, not wanting to explain, and walked over to the coffee table. Reaching one hand under, he pulled Kurama out as the kitsune gave a protesting squeak.  
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said. At that moment, there was a loud, female yell from the other side of the room, and within seconds, Karasu had been beamed in the head by a broom. The stunned crow dropped Kurama, who ran to hide behind Shiori, who was brandishing the said broom.  
"He really must be terrified of this guy if he's hiding behind Shiori," Kuronue muttered to Jeroun, who nodded. As Karasu moved toward Shiori, trying to explain, he got whacked in the head again.  
"WILL EVERYONE JUST CALM DOWN AND LISTEN TO ME!!" That got everyone's attention. Koenma stood in the center of the room, breathing hard. "He's not gonna hurt anyone. That was part of the deal we made."  
"What if he decides to break your agreement?" Kurama squeaked from behind Shiori.  
"He won't," Koenma said. "Number one; if he does, he'll be locked away in a Reikai prison, number two; he has hardly any of his power anymore, thanks to his second death. Third, *he's* the one who came up with the deal in the first place."  
"Really?" Kurama asked.  
"Watch," Karasu said. He walked over and placed a hand on the couch. A moment later, he pulled his hand away. The couch didn't blow up. Kurama took his chances, came out from behind Shiori, and prodded the couch. It still didn't blow up. Kurama looked at Koenma and nodded.  
"But where will he stay?" Kurama asked. "As far as I know, Karasu doesn't have a place in the Ningenkai."  
"You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here," Karasu mumbled. Koenma went red and suddenly became very interested in the living room carpet. After a moment, he spoke.  
"Ano . . . I thought he could stay here, with you and Jeroun and Kuronue," Koenma said. "If he does try anything, not that he will, three demons would be more likely able to handle him rather than one or a human." He gestured to Hiei, Yusuke and Kuwabara as he spoke.  
"He's welcome to stay," Shiori said suddenly. Kurama gave his mother a look that asked her "Are you crazy?" Shiori nodded. "He's not all bad, Shuichi."  
"I wish she'd call me Kurama," Kurama muttered.  
"But if he does one thing, he's out," Shiori said. "And that's final." She ignored Kurama's pleading look. "Lucky for us we got another guest room, since Jeroun and Kuronue are occupying the first two." Koenma thanked Shiori while Kurama left the room and began banging his head on the wall, hoping this was a bad dream.  
"You are more generous than Kurama said you were," Koenma cried, wringing Shiori's hands. Shiori paused, listening to a gentle *thump-thump- thump*  
"Shuichi! Stop hitting your head on the wall!"  
"Gomen, 'kassan," Kurama's voice yelled.  
"Well, then, that takes care of everything," Koenma said. "I'll be back in a few months to see how everybody's doing." With that, he called to Botan, and they left. Shiori showed Karasu to his new room while the rest of the gang filtered out of the living room, except for Kurama, who had his head on the wall and was muttering, "What have I gotten myself into?"   
  
Tee hee. Looks like we're in for a crazy ride!! And I'm sorry, I know I said this would mostly be about Hiei, but I couldn't help myself. I had to bring Karasu into the picture. He was just there, yelling in my face, "PUT ME IN!!!"  
  
Karasu: And it worked, didn't it?  
  
Nagem: Shut up! You're gonna ruin the whole story.  
  
Karasu: No I won't. I'll just stay in the background like a good little crow.  
  
Kurama: Yeah, right.  
  
Karasu: FOX!!  
  
Kurama: Get away from me!!  
  
Nagem: Karasu, leave him alone! Please review!! PLEASE!! 


	2. You don't hate me?

I said this once, but here's a recap; if you haven't read A chance reunion, then I highly suggest it, because this fic will make much more sense.  
  
Here's chapter two!! But first, I wanted to reply to some reviews.  
  
First- Thanks to everyone for being so supportive about Karasu coming into the story. Like I said, I didn't mean to, but I love to drive Kurama crazy (if anyone hasn't figured that out yet)  
  
Princess Krystal01- Er, I think I know what you're talking about with Hiei's Jagan. I heard it mentioned once in the anime, I think, but it's never been expressed in the Yukina-finds-out fics I've read before. So . . . maybe clarify for my poor mind a little bit.  
  
Babble Queen- Hee-hee. I didn't think it was that funny when I wrote it, so that's probably why I didn't put general/humor, okay? The thing is, if I try to make it funny, then it's usually not.  
  
Chisara Notell- You really think Hiei and Yukina are in-character? Wow. Thanks. (That's high praise for me)  
  
youko-love- Well . . . This isn't really a romance, so I won't focus so much on the pairings as much as the plot. But, just so you know, this is non-yaoi (boy/boy romance) and there might be a little Yusuke/Keiko (depending on how often they come in) and probably Kuwabara/Yukina (just because that's kinda related to the plot in the first place.) But that's just as of now, it might change as the story goes on.   
  
Hiei raced through the trees in the predawn gloom. He stopped only for a second when a dew-soaked branch of a tree threatened to smack him in the face, changing direction and leaping for the next over tree. He growled slightly at the swinging branch, and raced on. He stopped at a clearing, breathing faster than normal. As much as he hated to express any affection, especially when it involved the Ningenkai, he loved this peaceful clearing. There was no baka Kuwabara, no constantly shouting Yusuke, no order-barking Koenma, no over-hyper ferry girl Botan, and no people telling him what to do, or when to do it. Hiei walked over and sat down, his back against one of the trees. He sat there, breathing deeply, until he heard slightly muffled footsteps. He was about to leave when someone called out his name.  
"Hiei!" Hiei turned around, surprised that it was a female voice that called him.  
"Yukina?" Hiei stared at the girl. "W-what are you doing here?" Yukina smiled, and knelt down, pouring birdseed from her hand onto the ground.  
"I thought I saw an injured bird here yesterday," she explained. "When I got near it, it hopped away into the woods. I wanted to follow it, but it was late, so I decided I should just come back in the morning." At this point she got up and brushed her clothes off. "So, here I am." Hiei nodded. "What are you doing here?"  
"I-" Hiei broke off. "I like this place, a little bit. Not as much as the Makai, but it's nice for when I don't want to deal with other youkai. . . . " As his voice faded with the last sentence, Hiei realized that he was rambling. (There's something wrong with me,) he thought. Yukina smiled.  
"Oh," she said. "I hope you don't mind me being here."  
"No," Hiei said. "I just thought that no one else knew about this place."  
"I only stumbled on it yesterday," Yukina said, trying to peer through the dense undergrowth of the forest. "I hope that poor little bird is all right."  
"I'm sure he is," Hiei offered, although it sounded strained and unlike him. He kicked his feet against the ground as Yukina looked for her friend, hoping that one of them would break the silence. When Yukina didn't speak, Hiei took it that he had to. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth, unsure about what he was going to say.  
"May I ask you something?" Yukina said, turning her back to the trees and facing Hiei. When he nodded, Yukina spoke, "Why are you always so . . . quiet?" The pause between the words gave Hiei the impression that was not what Yukina was originally going to ask, but he ignored the fact as Yukina went on. "You've never really spoken to me before, and when you talk to everyone else, you hardly string two words together."  
"I just don't like the people I'm forced to talk to," Hiei said.  
"Then you're not forced to talk to me?" Yukina's eyes were big, and she looked hopeful.  
"Do you like me that much?" Hiei countered with another question instead of answering the one she asked. Yukina looked down at the ground.  
"Does it bother you to be liked, even . . . considered as a friend?" she asked. This caught Hiei totally off-guard.  
"You think of me as a friend?" he asked. She nodded. "I've never. . . . " Hiei then said something he didn't mean to. "I've been an outcast my entire life, up until now."  
"An . . . outcast?" Yukina said. A spark of an idea popped into her mind. "What . . . do you mean?"  
"I . . . was . . . damnit, Yukina, I was a criminal!!" Yukina was shrank away from the sudden outburst of anger, and a look of guilt and self- loathing crossed Hiei's face for a moment before he turned and fled the clearing, barely ruffling the calm trees. Yukina looked at the spot where Hiei had been a few moments before.  
"It's almost like he wants me to hate him," she said to herself. She smiled when she heard a small chirp and looked over to see the little bird from the day before eating the birdseed she had offered. She knelt down and peered at its broken wing.  
  
"Shuichi! Jeroun! Kuronue! Karasu! Time for breakfast!!" The four youkai stumbled out of their rooms and down the stairs, to where Shiori was waiting with food. Jeroun yawned as he sat down and took the offered plate of toast, taking a piece for himself before offering it to Karasu. Kuronue couldn't help but notice that Kurama was glaring in Karasu's direction. Even Shiori was keeping her distance from the explosive youkai.  
"I don't get it," Kuronue whispered to his partner. "What's so bad about this guy, besides the fact he mom-napped Shiori?"  
"Oh, let's see here," Kurama whispered somewhat sarcastically. "He tried to blow me up, tried to rape me, nearly killed me and. . . . Well, what would you do?" Kurama stabbed his fork into his plate with such violence the utensil scraped across the plate with a loud *eeeeeee* The room winced.  
"Shuichi . . . " Shiori began warningly.  
"Gomen, 'kassan," Kurama mumbled. They all began to eat. Kurama shifted uncomfortably in the sounds of utensils scraping plates gently and people chewing, casting a glance over at Karasu. The crow noticed this, and looked up at Kurama. Kurama suddenly got the chills, a side effect of the case of paranoia that had overcome him since yesterday.  
::Fox,:: Karasu's voice rang out in Kurama's mind. ::What is the matter with you?::  
::Get out of my head, I am not listening to you, I am not listening to you,:: Kurama chanted, even closing his eyes in the hopes that Karasu would leave him alone.  
::I am not going to kill you,:: Karasu said, moving an inch closer to the kitsune. At that moment, Kurama jumped from his seat, yelling at the top of his lungs.  
"Shuichi!" Shiori yelped.  
"Kurama!" Kuronue and Jeroun yelled together. Kurama jumped onto the table, spilling the leftovers from breakfast onto the floor.  
"AH-HA!! CAN YOU SEE HIM?? HE'S PLOTTING SOMETHING!! HE IS!! I CAN SEE IT IN HIS EYES!!" Kurama jabbed a finger at Karasu, who backed away from the kitsune, thinking the poor redhead had gone mental.  
"Kurama, really, I thought you were more sane than this," Jeroun said. Kuronue nodded and tried to pull Kurama off the table, only succeeding in getting smacked by Kurama's foot as the kitsune prepared to launch himself at Karasu in a full-bodied tackle.  
"SHUICHI!!" At that moment, Kurama lost the momentum for his jump and landed with an undignified *thud* on the floor. Kuronue and Karasu helped Kurama up, the chimera offering Karasu a small smile, which the crow returned.  
"Wuh-what happened?" Kurama asked. He didn't seem to notice Karasu was holding him on his feet. Kuronue prayed the kitsune's peace of mind could last until they got him out of trouble.  
"Shuichi," Shiori advanced on her son, who winced. "What were you thinking?"  
"He's mad, 'kassan, he was going to blow us up," Kurama said. Karasu opened his mouth to object, but Kuronue shook his head, his eyes darting from crow to fox, and sent a mental message to Karasu.  
::Don't draw his attention to you, or he'll freak out again,:: Kuronue said. Karasu nodded.  
"He was not, Shuichi," Shiori said. "That is no way to treat a guest."  
"I'll just take him up to his room," Kuronue said. "He won't cause trouble there." Shiori paused, considering, and then nodded, while Karasu and Kuronue hauled Kurama up the stairs. I know it's a short chappie, but I didn't feel like writing anymore; I don't want the story to go by too fast. And I know, the sub-plot thingie with Kurama, Karasu, Kuronue, and Jeroun seems kinda pointless, but I'm working on it here. There's something planned for them. Tee hee. Anyway, I'm gonna leave it at that for now. Please review! 


	3. You know who he is, why won't you tell m...

Sorry about the long delay! Things have just been going wrong lately, and it's been hard for me to write anything good. Actually, that sentence should be something like, "it's been hard for me to write something worthy of posting, not that it's any good."  
  
Princess Krystal01- Yeah, yeah, I know Kurama's not in character. It was bothering me a little bit, but I came to this realization-it's kinda hard to act like yourself when the person who scares the living s**t out of you is right next to you in your own home. Kinda smashes the safe, homely feeling there. But don't worry . . . Kurama's gonna get better before the end of the story (there goes the humor of the story) So . . . don't worry.  
  
Dragon Sythe- Nah, Karasu doesn't have blond hair in this fic. Well, if there's some big fight scene he might go blond (not that there will be- don't hold me to that) but other than that, no. If you don't mind me asking; Why even care? Oh, and Karasu's not gonna have a love affair with Kurama. If you want to read something like that, let me know, and I'll get to work on my KarasuxKurama fic. (don't kill me if you're a yaoi-hater . . . you don't have to read it. That goes for everybody else, too.)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.  
  
  
  
"What is your problem?" Hiei demanded. He was currently watching Kurama, who had armed himself with a baseball bat in hand and one of his mother's pans on his head. Hiei shook his head at the kitsune. "Seriously, why are you making such a fool out of yourself?"  
"He's planning something," Kurama said.  
"Karasu?" Hiei asked, although he knew that was the answer.  
"Karasu's planning something and I'm not about to let him get away with it," Kurama said, waving the bat around in a few practice swings. Hiei groaned.  
"Come on, fox, just drop it, he's not gonna hurt you," Hiei said, eyeing the bat as if daring it to come an inch nearer. "He already said he wouldn't. And he has yet to actually break his word."  
"What about last night?" Kurama demanded, noticing Hiei's look and tucking the bat under his arm. "He was moving toward me with his hand outstretched.  
"He was reaching for the salt, which he had to reach across you for," Hiei said. Kurama dropped the baseball bat. "You were just too freaked out to notice."  
"Really?" he asked. Hiei "hn"ed and nodded. Kurama slowly took the pot off his head. "All right then. But I swear, if he makes one obvious move to kill me. . . . "  
"You're gonna kick him out, Kurama, we know, we know," Kuronue said, coming down the stairs. Kurama "eep"ed slightly, and glared at his partner, who had a smug grin on his face.  
"How much of that did you see?" Kurama demanded.  
"All of it, and I even got pictures of you with that pan on the . . . camera, that's what it's called, right?" Hiei snorted in amusement, and Kurama clapped his hand to his forehead.  
"The camera!" he groaned. "Kuronue, you told me you didn't know how to work that thing." The chimera had a smug grin on his face.  
"I lied," he said simply. "Anyway," he added hastily as Kurama frowned. "That's not the point. The point is; Hiei's right, Karasu's not gonna hurt you."  
"How would you know?" Kurama asked.  
"I talked to him last night, he's a nice guy," Kuronue said. "Just give him a chance." At that point, Hiei left, not wanting to hear Kurama's pathetic excuses of why he should not talk to Karasu.  
  
"How's the bird?"  
Yukina jumped at the voice coming from the shadows and whirled around. When she saw the two red eyes (So much like my own,) she thought, she calmed down.  
"Hiei, you scared me," she said, smiling and motioning for Hiei to come out of the shadows. Hiei did so, grudgingly mumbling something that could be an apology. "Why'd you come out here again?" Yukina motioned to the temple that had once been Genkai's, before she had passed on. "I thought you hated to come here."  
"I just wanted to know how the bird was," Hiei said, although in his own ears it rang untrue. He was simply looking for something that he could talk to Yukina about.  
"The bird's fine," she said. "I had a little trouble healing his broken wing, since I'm not used to working on animals and all, but he's fine." Yukina smiled at him.  
"Good," Hiei said. He offered her a quick smile, happy that she was happy. "I'm glad." Hiei turned to leave.  
"Wait!" Yukina cried. "Do you want to stay for a little bit?" Her eyes shone with hopefulness, but Hiei shook his head.  
"I don't think so," he said to her. "I have other things I need to do." Okay, so it wasn't *completely* a lie, well, yeah, it was a lie. Hiei paused a moment. "Why do you even care?" Yukina opened her mouth, then closed it again as if she could not believe what she was hearing.  
"Well," she managed after a moment. "It's an offer a friend would make. To invite someone into one's home." There was a second of silence while Hiei considered what she was saying.  
"You think of me as a friend?" he asked. Yukina frowned. "What did I say?"  
"We've been through this before, Hiei," she said. When Hiei frowned, remembering, Yukina continued. "You asked, and I nodded. Then you said . . . " she trailed off.  
"I said. . . . " Hiei muttered, not wanting to repeat it. (I said I was an outcast up until now,) his mind finished the thought for him.  
"You said you'd been an outcast up until now," Yukina said. "Then I asked you what you meant, and you said that you were a criminal, as if you wanted me to hate you." She looked down at the wooden floor of the kitchen in Genkai's temple. "Do you want me to hate you?" It was a question out of her nature, sure, but sometimes that was the vibe she received from the other youkai.  
"I don't!" Hiei said, a little too quickly. Yukina's eyes widened.  
"You don't," she repeated under her breath. Then she raised her voice. "Can I ask you something, as a friend?" Hiei looked unnerved by the new title, but answered kindly.  
"Nani?" Hiei said, looking at his sister. "What do you want to ask me?" Yukina paused, kicking her feet at the ground.  
"I wanted to know . . . if you knew anything about . . . my brother," she said. On that train of thought, she continued. "I don't know why I'm not able to find him, it's like . . . " she broke off, tears forming in her red eyes. "It's like he hates me or something. But I don't want him to h- hate m-me." She stuttered, truly in tears by this point. Small tear gems clinked onto the floor, and Hiei gathered them up as he tried to comfort her by awkwardly patting her on the back.  
"I-I'm sure he doesn't hate you," he said. Then, perhaps against his better judgment, he went on. "I'm sure that he's looking for you right now. He probably cares about you very much, Yukina, he really does." Yukina noticed the slip before Hiei did.  
"You k-know that he c-cares about m-me?" She stuttered through quickly drying tears. "How?" She looked up at him hopefully.  
"I . . . " Hiei trailed off, hardly able to form a coherent sentence in his mind. (Damn,) he thought as he watched her. (Why did I slip like that?)  
"You know where he is?" Yukina asked hopefully.  
"N-no," Hiei lied. "I . . . yes. I know. I know where he is." (What are you *doing*?) his mind screamed at him. (I don't know,) he answered it silently.  
"Then . . . tell him where I am, and that I'm waiting for him, and that . . . I love him," Yukina said. "Will you please, Hiei?"  
"Hai," Hiei said. Yukina smiled.  
"Thank you," she said. "Thank you so much." She quickly wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. Hiei blinked, something breaking inside him, and hugged her back.  
"I should go now," he said. "I have something that I need to attend to."  
"Thank you, and good-bye," Yukina said as Hiei vanished out of the window.  
  
Kurama sat across the couch from Karasu, wondering how in the world Kuronue had managed to get him roped into this.  
"So . . . " Kurama said uneasily. "You're . . . not evil anymore?"  
"I'm not," Karasu said. "I was thinking when Koenma was wondering what he was going to do with me the second time I died, 'why am I hurting someone who I really only want to be friends with?' or 'why I am I *trying* to scare him so much' and 'don't I want him to be my friend?'"  
"Hang on, hang on, hang on," Kurama said hurriedly. "You wanted me to be your *friend*?" Karasu grinned nervously as Kurama stared at him with wide green eyes.  
"Yeah," he said. "I did. I was just . . . a little out of my mind."  
"No kidding," Kurama snorted, leaning back on the couch and crossing his arms. Despite his better judgment, he was beginning to relax around Karasu. "So . . . you're not gonna blow me up this time?"  
"Nope," Karasu said. "I'm done with all of that. And you saw what happened earlier; I couldn't even blow this couch up, even though I tried. Kurama nodded, he had felt Karasu's energy peak when he had tried to blow the couch up. Now that he thought about it, the crow's energy did seem weaker than normal. "Well, do you trust me?"  
"Yeah," Kurama said after a minute. "I do." Karasu held out his hand and Kurama took it, shaking it in a sign of trust.  
"Well, now that that's settled," Karasu said, getting up off the couch. "Wanna get something to eat? It feels like forever since breakfast." Not waiting for an answer, he headed off for the kitchen.  
"Yeah it does," Kurama said, getting up and following him. "Hang on, I going to see if anyone else wants something." He cupped his hands to his mouth. "Kuronue! Jeroun! Wanna come on down and have lunch?" It seemed that before the words had even left his mouth Kuronue and Jeroun were tumbling down the stairs together, stopping when they reached Kurama.  
"What's for lunch?" Jeroun asked. Kuronue eyed the two.  
"It's all right, Kuronue, we're friends, see?" Kurama placed a hand on Karasu's shoulder, who merely shrugged it off. "Great. Glad to know I'm loved." Jeroun laughed. Kuronue shook his head.  
"Let's just get lunch," he said.  
  
Later that afternoon, Kurama heard a tapping at his window as he sat on his bed reading a book he had been meaning to get started on. Sighing, he folded the page over as a bookmark and went over to open the window. Without a word, Hiei jumped in.  
"Hey Hiei," Kurama said. Hiei's eyes darted about the room as Kurama turned and closed the window again.  
"I have to leave," Hiei said. Kurama jumped, clearly startled by Hiei's statement.  
"Why?"  
"Hn," Hiei folded his arms across his chest. "Wouldn't you love to know." Kurama paused for a moment, thinking, and then smiled to himself.  
"You said too much to Yukina." Even though Hiei didn't say anything out loud, Kurama could feel the "How-the-hell-did-you-know" stare drilling into his back. "You were snapping at me, which you only do in Yukina- related cases. You were nervous-no, don't deny it, Hiei, I could smell it, another thing that only comes up in Yukina-related cases, and you only have to leave when you feel that something went wrong." Kurama had yet to face Hiei, but could imagine the open-mouthed look the fire demon had.  
"Smart-ass fox," Hiei growled, shutting his mouth. Kurama only chuckled.  
"I know," he said. He sat down on his bed, motioning for Hiei to sit next to him. "So, how long do you plan on staying?"  
"As long as I need to," Hiei said. Kurama sighed.  
(I wonder why I even try sometimes,) he thought. Hiei scowled.  
"I heard that," he said.  
"I know," Kurama replied. "Well then . . . there's really nothing left here to do, is there?" Kurama paused suddenly, considering his words. "Ah, crap, Hiei, I didn't mean for that to sound like I was trying to kick you out or anything. . . . " Hiei smiled at the fox's attempt to babble out an apology.  
"Don't," he said. "Don't bother apologizing. I know you didn't mean it." Kurama stopped mid-babble, mouth open, and turned to Hiei.  
"Are you all right?" he asked the small fire youkai. "Because you don't act like it." Hiei chuckled inwardly at Kurama. The kitsune was right, of course, but that didn't matter at the moment.  
"Don't tell Yukina," Hiei said.  
"I won't," Kurama promised. "You should do that yourself." Hiei scowled, and hauled himself up onto the windowsill. "Well, I guess this means, 'See ya later, Kurama, I'm leaving'?" Hiei rolled his eyes and nodded, before throwing open the window (ignoring Kurama's squeaked, "Don't! You're gonna break it!") and jumping out. Kurama ran to the window and peered into the now-dark backyard. "See ya, Hiei!"  
"Who was that, Shuichi?" Shiori stood at the doorway, having caught her son leaning halfway out of it in an attempt to say good-bye. Kurama pulled himself back in and smiled at his mother.  
"That was Hiei," he said. "He comes and goes by this window." Shiori's eyes widened. "You'll get used to it. Either way, he's not coming around for a bit, off to . . . work." Kurama was originally going to say, "Off to hide from his sister in the Makai," but thought better of it. Shiori'd get the wrong idea and Hiei'd kill him.  
"Well . . . dinner's ready, and everyone's getting restless," Shiori said. "So . . . " She glanced out into the hallway, and her eyes widened. She quickly looked at the ground and hurried on. Kurama tilted his head to one side, confused.  
"What scared her off like-" Kurama walked out into the hallway, and his eyes went wide. Karasu was attempting to run up the wall. "What are you doing?"  
"Your mother said Jeroun's complaints could drive a person up the wall, so I'm just seeing if it'll drive a youkai up the wall," Karasu said.  
"Karasu, it's a figure of speech," Kurama said. Karasu, who had indeed jumped halfway up the wall, suddenly fell and landed on his back.  
"That hurt," he said. Kurama smacked his forehead with his hand and went down to see what was for dinner. Well, didja like it? I hope so, it took me long enough to write this chapter. Please review! I know I don't deserve it, but please! Sorry once again for the long delay! It'll never happen again without warning! I promise! 


	4. Ambushed

Okay, here's chapter four, finally!!  
  
Chisara Notell- I don't know what Karasu's gonna do. I can't have him seriously hit on Kurama, or face the wrath of yaoi-haters *shivers* those guys can be scary sometimes, ya know? *ducks random objects thrown by yaoi- haters*  
  
Princess Kyrstal01- Hee hee, I think it was a month, but that's okay.  
  
uki- AAAAAAH!! Please, keep reviewing! Review all the chapters that you want! I give out plushies at the end of these fics, so review if ya want the plushies!! *huggles Kurama plushie*  
  
puffnbob- Yeah, yeah, I know that Karasu's not stupid enough to try to run up a wall, but why not? The thought actually came from a dream I had about Karasu trying to do Matrix moves . . . O.o Erm, what do you mean by, "Use more imagery, it'll give it more depth?" (Yeah, I'm a little ignorant to these kind of terms or whatnot)  
  
Dragon Sythe- WAAAAHH! *sobs* I'm trying to keep it a Hiei-centered fic, really I am!! It's just so hard, Hiei's character is so difficult to get right! But I'll keep trying . . . it's hard to have a Hiei fic without a lot of Kurama in it, because Kurama's the only one Hiei talks to ^_^ Oh, and there's some fighting in this fic, now that I've got the plotline all worked out. Just wait for it, 'kay?  
  
Madame Arrow Foxfire- Yeah, I liked OOC Kurama, it made it so easy to have humor, but if I kept him like he was, I think I would have gotten flamed or something. ^_^  
  
Kurama's loving wife- You actually thought the last chapter was good? Thank you!!  
  
Disclaimer- I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. (Next time, can I not say the disclaimer and say I did??)   
  
/The fire roared. It was consuming her, feeding on her body. She gasped for air, but inhaled the flames. They were tearing her apart from the inside now. She screamed. Just then, a hand reached out to help her. When she looked to see who it was, she saw a black figure, about her height, with glowing red eyes. She grasped the hand, gasping, 'Onii-chan.' as she passed out./  
  
Yukina's eyes flew open as she nearly froze her room in fright. She sat up straight and looked around. Seeing no fire, she calmed down. She put her hand to her heart, where it was racing. (What did that dream mean?) she wondered, bringing her knees up to her chest and thrusting her face into them. She closed her eyes and tried to visualize the figure that she had seen. She knew it was her brother, it had to be, but what did the flames mean?  
"I need to get out and do something," Yukina concluded finally. "I know! I'll call Kazuma and see if he wants to go get more of that ice cream stuff."  
  
Fifteen minutes later Yukina sat outside Genkai's temple, waiting for Kuwabara to show up. She thought that she should go and meet him; she hated to make him climb all those steps, but Kuwabara had stubbornly refused to let her do that-he would come pick her up himself. One more thing-Yukina was *hot*. No matter how many times she called upon an icy wind or the likes, she was still sweating it out. (I shouldn't be this hot,) Yukina thought as she felt a bead of sweat roll down her arm. (I'm a koorime, this doesn't make any sense!) She called upon her youkai, and felt an icy wind instantly wash over her. It did nothing to help the sweltering heat. (I wonder if this has anything to do with the flames from my dreams.)  
"Yukinaaaaa!!" She heard Kuwabara's voice float up the stairs. She sighed. Even though she had suggested they go out for ice cream, she no longer wanted to deal with the overly loud ningen. Kuwabara himself appeared a moment later, smiling widely and hiding something behind his back.  
"Kazuma," Yukina greeted softly. He smiled at her, and whipped something out from behind his back. It was a bouquet of roses, each one blooming a bright blood red. He handed them out to her.  
"These are for you," he said as Yukina gathered them up into her arms. She smiled at him, even though the roses pressed against her and added to the heat. "I hope you like them. I made sure Kurama gave me the very best, although I think he kept some better ones for his rose whip."  
"They're lovely," Yukina said, watching as Kuwabara's face lit up with a smile. "Kazuma . . . I'm a little warm, so do you mind if I go inside and change into something cooler?"  
"Not at all, Yukina!" Kuwabara said. "Take all the time you need!"  
"I'll put the roses in a vase to keep them fresh," she said. "You're welcome to come in if you like." As she opened the door, Kuwabara looked around inside before stepping in.  
"You sure Hiei isn't in here?" he asked. "He's awfully protective of you. You'd think he has a crush on you or something." Yukina said nothing as she poured water into a glass vase and set the roses in, but thought to herself, (You would, wouldn't you?)  
"I'll be right back," Yukina said, excusing herself with a bow. Kuwabara sat down and waited for Yukina to return, and looked around. He spotted something on one of the tables near the couch. It glimmered brightly, and Kuwabara walked over to see what it was. He wrapped his hand around something round, cool, and hard.  
"Hiruiseki!" he whispered. "But Yukina. . . . this one's black, anyways. It looks like the ones Hiei had when he was crying when Kurama supposedly died. . . . "  
"That's a gift from my brother," Yukina said, joining Kuwabara. Kuwabara jumped, and he handed the gem over to her. "I found it yesterday, with a note."  
"Your brother," Kuwabara said. (She says her brother gave it to her,) he thought. (But I've seen these before . . . they were Hiei's. . . . NO WAY!!) "Yukina . . . did you ever find your brother?"  
"No," she whispered. "But the note said he was going back to the Makai."  
"I see," Kuwabara whispered. (And that's where Hiei went, too,) he thought. Now that he thought about it, Yukina and Hiei really did look alike. They were about the same height, with the exact same eyes. (But Yukina's so sweet, and Hiei's so. . . .)  
"Kazuma?" Yukina asked, jerking Kuwabara out of his thoughts. "What are you staring at me for?" Kuwabara shook his head. He didn't like that train of thought anyway.  
"Nothing," he said. "Let's go get ice cream!"  
  
The tree branches barely moved as Hiei passed through them. He ducked as a branch nearly hit him in the face. He growled at it, and continued on his way. He looked down and saw a low-level youkai wandering about the trees. Hiei grinned. (I need to relieve some stress,) he thought as he drew his katana. The youkai didn't even suspect anything. Hiei drew closer, and the youkai turned, but with a swift swing, Hiei ended the youkai's life.  
"Huh," he said. "Not much of a challenge." He suddenly felt the ki of several other youkai. He tensed, ready to fight or run, but nothing happened. "Show yourselves!!" There was soft laughter, and several ugly oni- like creatures stepped out from behind the trees.  
"Nice to see you, Hiei," one of them growled. Hiei growled deep in his throat but didn't make a single move.  
"Shazagen," Hiei growled. He had fought the oni-like creature before, and Shazagen had barely escaped with his life. "What do you want?"  
"Ah, you are so blind sometimes," Shazagen said. "I want revenge." Hiei held up his bloodstained katana, half to pull it out of the dead youkai's body, half as a sort of warning to Shazagen. The other youkai chuckled.  
"I've been watching your progress," Shazagen said. "I watched you during the Dark Tournament. I know how strong you are. And I can match it."  
"You lie," Hiei growled, for some reason resisting the urge to kill Shazagen on the spot. Shazagen pulled out a thin piece of wood and twirled it around his fingers.  
"I don't," he said, throwing the wood at Hiei, who tilted his head to the side to avoid it. "And even if I couldn't, I have followers." At his words, the youkai behind him growled and cracked their knuckles in a weak attempt to frighten Hiei. "And they are more than eager to rip you limb from limb." (Well doesn't that sound pleasant,) Hiei thought sarcastically.  
"I have no time for you and your pathetic followers," Hiei growled. "I want nothing to do with you, so move on." Shazagen grinned.  
"But that is where you are wrong," he said. "You have no other option." He made a loud high-pitched sound in his throat, and before Hiei- who was astounded at the noise-had time to react, a small dart tipped with poison struck him in the back of the neck. He pulled it out, but it was too late.  
"You . . . bastard," Hiei murmured as he fell to his knees, and then fainted.  
  
"You're getting me dizzy."  
"He can do that sometimes."  
"Would you two please shut up?"  
"Oooh, feisty kitsune."  
"Don't provoke him, Karasu."  
"Youkos are dangerous when they're provoked," Karasu said simply. Kuronue clapped a hand to his forehead. Jeroun shook his head. The three of them were watching Kurama pace the room restlessly.  
"Wasn't that my point?" Kuronue whispered, more to himself than anyone else.  
"Hey, Kurama, what's wrong?" Jeroun asked. The kitsune paused, and sighed.  
"I dunno," he said. "It just feels like something's wrong. Something bad has happened." Kuronue stared and Karasu tilted his head to one side.  
"What do you mean, 'wrong,'?" Karasu asked.  
"I don't know," Kurama said. "It's just a silly little feeling, that's all. Forget anything happened." Karasu shrugged, and Kuronue shook his head. Jeroun's eyes went wide.  
"But what if there is something wrong?" he asked, with a hint of fear in his voice.  
"Drop it, Jeroun."  
"But Kurama-"  
"He said, drop it," Kuronue and Karasu said together.  
  
Just as Yukina began to get comfortable in her jeans and T-shirt, she felt an ice-cold wind wash over her. She shivered and nearly dropped the ice cream Kuwabara had bought her.  
"Yukina, what's wrong?" Kuwabara asked, looking into her face to see if she was all right. Yukina shivered again. "Yukina!" She looked up at him, eyes wide.  
"Onii-chan," she whispered. "Something's happened to him!" At that moment, her knees gave out, and she fell, Kuwabara catching her just in time.  
"How can you be sure?" Kuwabara asked as he set her down gently onto one of the chairs outside a diner.  
"He's . . . Kazuma, he's my twin," she whispered. "We have that bond, so I know." Even as she said the words, she heard a voice in the back of her mind, (If you two have a bond, why have you not found him yet?) She shook the thought off.  
"Okay then," he said. Then something struck him. "Yukina!!" He grabbed her shoulders.  
"Nani?"  
"If they're after your brother, then do you think. . . . " Kuwabara broke off, afraid to say anymore. "Do you think that they might be after you, too?"  
"I don't know," Yukina whispered. Hahahhahahahhahahah.  
  
I am done! DONE!! Mwahahahaha. This chapter took longer to write than expected. Please review! Er, and someone let me know if I got the name of Yukina's/Hiei's tear-gems wrong. It is "Hiruiseki," right? 


	5. Attacked!

Hello! Sorry it took so long, things have been absolute hell lately. I have all these finals that I had to study for and then I had to stay after school for one, and I have limited time on the computer. Well, I suppose that's it for now. 

Chisara Notell- I don't think Kuwabara's as stupid as we think he is (*watches Kuwabara make a fool out of himself in a random YYH episode* Okay, maybe I was wrong.)

Dragon Sythe- * dances around happily * Yay! It _worked!! _It took my freaking forever, but it worked!! 

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

                Hiei floated in and out of feverish dreams. He thrashed as he saw various illusions, trying to throw them off. He stood by and watched helplessly as Yukina was attacked; killed. He screamed as the Jagan eye was inserted once more into his forehead. He saw a dark stranger take Kurama away from him, and when he went to yell for the kitsune, he found his throat dry and coughed.

                Hiei felt water being pushed past his lips. He choked and sputtered as he tried to swallow. He opened his eyes, and for the first time in days he could see clearly. He half-glared at the healer who held an empty bowl in her hands. She bowed and hurriedly left the room. Hiei growled, pain rising in his throat as he realized how thirsty he was. He went to draw his katana, but found he could not move. His wrists and ankles were shackled to the wall of the dungeon cell he was in. He paused for a moment, remembering the ambush in the forests of the Makai. He felt a familiar youki outside the cell door, and a moment later, Shazagen stepped in, flanked by several guards. He looked quite pleased with himself about something, and even though Hiei kept an emotionless mask, he wondered what it was.

                "Why didn't you let the poison kill me?" Hiei spat in a raspy whisper a moment later. Shazagen grinned, and stepped closer to Hiei.

                "Ah, I was going to," Shazagen said. "I was, little fire youkai, but I discovered a way to cause you more pain." Hiei narrowed his eyes, but said nothing as Shazagen continued with his victory speech. "While you were tossing about in your fevered dreams, I discovered an interesting secret of yours. You have a sister, a _koorime_ sister, that you actually care for."

                "What does she have to do with anything?" Hiei asked, although he knew Shazagen's plan the minute he had brought Yukina into the picture. Hiei felt a spark of rage ignite within his usually cold heart, but kept his face blank.

                "I've sent out youkai to hunt her, to hurt her, to kill her," Shazagen said. Hiei snorted, he knew that was coming. "And you get to watch the whole thing, and feel every ounce of pain she feels, as her twin should." Hiei growled again-Shazagen was going to make his fevered dreams a reality. "And the fox, Youko Kurama, what is he to you?"

                Red eyes widened. "An . . . acquaintance, nothing more," Hiei said. He cursed himself. He had put his sister and his best friend in danger. 

                "An acquaintance?" Shazagen roared with laughter. "From your words in your fevered state, I'd say he's more a friend, someone you'd give your life for. You care about him just as much as you care about your sister. Yukina was her name, correct?"

                "Your business is with me, Shazagen," Hiei said finally. "With me only, not Youko Kurama, and definitely not Yukina." 

                "Oh, but Hiei," Shazagen said. "They are your weaknesses." 

                 Yukina scattered birdseed all over the ground, waiting for her friends. She smiled as they came hopping into the clearing of the forest she was in. 

                "Hey there," she whispered. "This'll probably be the last time we meet." Winter was only a few weeks away, and Yukina wondered why the birds had stayed as long as they did. She reached out and gently stroked one with one finger before leaving them to their meal and going home. 

                "You are Yukina?" The Koorime jumped and looked around to see several fat male youkai hanging around the entrance to Genkai's temple. She stepped away from them as they stood up and walked toward her.

                "What do you want?" she asked, stumbling as she walked backwards. They moved closer, sick grins plastered on their faces. Yukina called on a bone chilling wind to protect herself. The youkai shivered, but continued their relentless pursuit of the ice maiden. 

                "C'mon," one of them growled, its voice husky. Yukina turned and began to run down the steps of the temple, barely able to keep herself from tripping over her kimono. She cried out in fear when she heard the two youkai begin to run after her. "Don't resist us, little Yukina."

                "Leave me alone!!" Yukina cried, calling upon ice-cold windblasts randomly in hopes of distracting her pursuers. They didn't stop. "Help me!!" She knew it was only a matter of time before the beasts caught up, so when Yukina felt a hand grab her shoulder, she turned and lashed out with her palm, catching her captor hard in the face. 

                "Insolent bitch!" hissed the one she had slapped, responding to the violence with a blow of his own. His fist caught Yukina in the stomach, making her double over in pain. She moaned and fell to the ground. "That wasn't very nice."

                "She's not a very nice girl," said the second one. They exchanged glances, and Yukina shivered when she saw the look in their eyes. They had twin looks of hunger; lust needing to be fulfilled. Yukina screamed as one grabbed at her kimono, ripping the shoulder. The other moved behind her, holding her in place as the other slowly began to remove her clothes. Yukina felt the fear and bile rising up in her throat. 

                "Onii-san!!!" she screamed, wondering if he would come to her aid.

                "YUKINA!!!!" 

                The scream was accompanied by wild thrashing as Hiei fought to break free of his bonds, but the shackles held tight, and all he could do was watch as the koorime fought the obviously mismatched battle. Hiei saw Shazagen standing in the corner and cursed the oni-like creature in every tongue he knew, but he just smiled.

                "How does it feel to be helpless?" Shazagen asked. He snapped his fingers, and his demon-camera thing moved closer to Yukina's face, capturing the look of pure fear on the poor koorime. The tears came unbidden to Hiei's eyes, and several gems clanked onto the floor.

                "Bastard," Hiei murmured, tearing his eyes away from the screen. Shazagen laughed, the raspy sound chilling Hiei's bones. He heard Yukina scream once more.

                "Well, Hiei?? How does it feel to be completely helpless to aid one you love??" Shazagen yelled, slapping Hiei across the face. Even though the pain was only a quickly diminishing sting, Hiei began to sob, gem after gem clanking onto the floor.

                "I'm . . . so sorry, Yukina." 

                "ROSE WHIP!!!!" 

                Yukina felt something warm splash onto her naked form, and when she opened the eyes that had been closed in fear; she saw the body of the youkai that had attacked her lying across her, his blood all over the place. She looked around wildly to see Kurama, whip in hand, eyes cold as he surveyed the bodies. A moment later, his look softened and he rushed over to Yukina, lifting her up and away from the youkai who had tried to rape her. 

                "Gomen, Yukina," Kurama said. "I didn't mean to get you all dirty like this." He took his coat off and wrapped the koorime up in it, and then set her down on her feet.

                "K-Kurama," she stuttered, and stumbled. Kurama caught her, cursing softly. 

                "They didn't!" he said. "I thought I got here in time!" Yukina shook her head. 

                "They didn't, thank you for rescuing me," she said as Kurama gathered her into his arms again. "Where's Kazuma? Didn't he come?" 

                "Kuronue and Jeroun are getting him," Kurama said. "I heard you scream from far off, so I told them to get Kuwabara, while Karasu and I came to help. Karasu saw something else flying off, so he said he'd follow it." Just then, they heard several grunts and male yells. Kurama shook his head hopelessly.

                "KUWABARA, JUST RELAX!!! I'M SURE KURAMA TOOK CARE OF EVERYTHING!!" 

                "NOOOOO!! MY YUKINA- SHE'S IN DANGER!!" Yukina looked up to Kurama, who shrugged. A moment later Kuwabara came into eyesight, barely being restrained by two harassed youkai-Kuronue and Jeroun. The moment he laid eyes on Kurama and Yukina, he broke free, rushing up to the kitsune. "What happened?" 

                "She. . . . " Kurama trailed off. Yukina reached out for Kuwabara in an almost childlike way, and he took her from Kurama, holding her close. Instead of speaking aloud, Kurama leaned over and whispered the story into Kuwabara's ear, who was instantly enraged. 

                "How dare they!!!" he yelled, clutching Yukina closer to his chest. "They think they can get away with this??"

                "Kuwabara!!" Jeroun and Kuronue rushed up, ready to restrain the ningen if needed.

                "Don't worry!!" Kurama said, moving his hands in a calming motion. "Karasu saw something flying away when I attacked the two youkai, so he followed it." 

                "And it lead me to absolutely nothing," Karasu said. He landed gently next to Kurama. "About halfway through the woods it sensed that there was something behind it, and started weaving, and lost me." Karasu sighed. "I tried, I really did." 

                "It's all right," Kurama said.

                "Oh, and one more thing," Karasu said. He jabbed his finger backwards at the dim outline of the temple. "Those youkai's friends are up there, surrounding the temple. So Yukina can't go back unless we decide we want to fight through hordes of youkai out for koorime blood." 

                "Anything for Yukina!" Kuwabara automatically yelled. 

                "You don't have to," Yukina mumbled softly. The group sighed. "It's too dangerous," she added when no one spoke. 

                "She's right," Kurama said. "Kuwabara, as for now, let's at least get her clothed and somewhere safe, with one of us." Kuwabara nodded. Kuronue fidgeted after a few moments.

                "You guys, I hate to rush ya, but I think they've spotted us," Kuronue said. The group looked up at the temple, where several youkai were rushing at them. "Let's get outta here!!" Kuronue bolted. 

                "I agree!!" Jeroun yelled, running after the chimera. The remaining three-excluding Yukina-exchanged glances, and followed. 

                "Hold onto her, Kuwabara!!" Kurama yelled. Kuwabara nodded, and they kept running. 

                About an hour later, Kurama, Karasu, Kuronue, Jeroun, and Kuwabara sat in Kurama's living room while Shiori tried to fit Yukina with some of Kurama's old clothes. 

                "All right dear, I know they're boy's clothes, but I'm afraid that's the best we can do," Shiori said, leading Yukina into the living room. The koorime looked strange and out of character in a pair of Kurama's old jeans and a T-shirt.

                "No, it doesn't bother me at all!" Yukina said, bowing to Shiori to express her gratitude. Shiori smiled and left, leaving the others to figure out what in the world would happen next. They discussed their options. Yukina obviously couldn't go back to the temple, for it was surrounded by hoards of demons. The only real option they had was to let Yukina stay with one of them until things had calmed down or they had a better plan. 

                "She'll stay with me!" Kuwabara declared, eyes shining at the prospect of having his love near him at all times. Yukina didn't have much room to protest, for her friends could just leave her to fend for herself (A/N: Yeah, like they'd really do that. Hiei'd kill 'em) so she nodded and followed Kuwabara as he marched out of the room. Kurama's eyes flashed. 

                "Wait a minute," he said. Kuwabara and Yukina stopped and turned around, puzzled looks on their faces. "Kuwabara, why don't you and Yukina stay the night?" 

                "Why?" Kuwabara asked. 

                "Kurama obviously senses it too," Karasu said, stepping forward. "Even though they're keeping their distance and trying to mask their energy, there are a bunch of youkai surrounding this house." He looked around at the others in the room for support, and they all nodded. "I'm sure that even all of us would be of no help to Yukina if they all decided to attack." 

                "But I promised Shizuru that I'd be home tonight," Kuwabara said. "And what about your mother?" 

                "Explain the situation to her, I'm sure she'll understand," Kurama said. "And as for 'kassan, I don't think she'll care."

                "I'll care about what?" Shiori asked, walking into the room. She placed her hands on her hips, waiting for some sort of explanation. Kurama told the story, with a few inserts from Kuronue, Jeroun, and Kuwabara. Shiori nodded, gave a few well placed "oh"s, and let Kurama finish the story into the silence. "They can stay for as long as they need to," she said finally, a look of sympathy on her face. 

                "It's been a long day," Kuronue said after a few moments. "Why don't we all go to bed and get some sleep." People nodded, and after Shiori and Kurama figured out where everyone would sleep, Kurama shouted one final warning of "No going outdoors!! There are youkai out there!!" and they all retired to their rooms, grumbling about one random thing or another.

Well then . . . looks like this thing's finally moving along. I'd say . . . I dunno, a few more chapters before things start to wrap themselves up. Either way, the next chapter is gonna be a blast. One koorime, one chimera, one kitsune, one who-knows-what (I haven't quite figured out what Jeroun is XD) one crow, and two humans in the same household together. Fun!! Anyway, please review!


	6. Sleepover

Yo!! I am BACK!!! 

TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO KNOW WHO SHAZAGEN IS!!! 

Well, if you want to get all technical (greeeaaat grammar there, Nagem, great grammar) about it, Shazagen would be an OC. I like to think of him as a random youkai that Hiei fought and beat, but didn't kill, that I gave a name and face to (hang on, that _is _an OC, isn't it? Dang it! I _hate _putting OC's into a story!) The thing is, bringing someone like Toguro or who knows who is a little cliché (I know, I know, I've done it before) and Hiei doesn't have that many enemies that would want revenge on him that badly (at least I don't think he does. Let me know if I'm wrong there.) 

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

                The house was quiet, for the most part. There were a few shuffling sounds as youkai or human turned in their beds, but nothing more. It began to rain, one drop after another striking the ground, thunder rolling overhead, and brief lightning flashes lit up the sky. 

                Kuwabara lay in his cot, not even halfway asleep, and glanced over to where Yukina was sleeping on the couch across the room. He shivered at the thought of something happening to her.  

                _KA-BOOM!!!_

                Kurama sat straight up in bed when he heard the thunder crash overhead. The storm had been going on for a while; he had woken to the thunder about an hour earlier. He sighed, and decided to roll over and go back to sleep. There was one problem though; he rolled right off the bed instead. 

                "Oomph!!" 

                "Yow! Who's there!"

                "Someone's attacking me!!"

                "Nonsense, I'm not attacking you!!"

                "Kurama?"

                ". . . . Jeroun?" Kurama managed to reach up and turn the lights on. Jeroun was staring at him fearfully. "What are you doing here?" 

                "The thunder scared me," Jeroun said, curling up into a ball clutching his blanket to his chest. Kurama was forcefully reminded of a child with his teddy bear. The kitsune smiled and sat down next to Jeroun, who was wincing slightly. "You're not going to kick me out?" 

                "No," Kurama replied, shaking his head. "I don't mind having a little bit of company during a storm." He pulled the blankets off his bed and set them up next to Jeroun's.

                "Kurama?" Both Jeroun and Kurama looked up to see Kuronue standing in the doorway, clutching his sheets and pillow to his chest, as Jeroun had. "Can I-?"

                "Come on in," Kurama said, flopping onto his pillow. What in the world had he done to deserve this? Kuronue came in and set up on the other side of Kurama. Kurama sighed.

                "I'm going to bed now," Kuronue announced, burying his face in his pillow. "Wake me when it's morning." 

                "Morning, chimera." 

                "Aaaah!" Kuronue scrambled away from his bed, where Karasu had appeared. "What are you _doing _here?" 

                "Ah, I heard voices and came to see why I'm not a part of the party, too," Karasu said, grinning as he watched Kurama out of the corner of his eye. The kitsune backed away from him. 

                "Well, guess what, it ain't a party!" Jeroun said suddenly. He got up and began pushing Karasu out of the room. "We decided we wanted company, so we came in here!"

                "Isn't that a party?" Jeroun opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by a loud boom, followed by a flash of lightning cracking outside Kurama's window, a brief warning before the lights went out and the room was thrown into darkness.

                "Ah!"

                "Eeep! It's dark!" 

                "Where is everyone? I can't see!" 

                "None of us can, Jeroun." 

                "Shut up, Karasu! Kuronue, Kurama? Where are you guys?"

                "I'm over here Jeroun, just follow my voice." 

                "Okay, Kurama, just keep talk-AH!!" There was a loud _CRUNCH followed by an eerie silence. _

                "Jeroun, please don't tell me that was one of my roses."

                "Uhh . . . oops? Hey, why do you keep roses on the floor anyway?"

                "Oh, dear." Kurama didn't answer Jeroun's question. 

                "I like roses."

                "What in the-Karasu! Get away from me!" 

                "Nani?"

                "I said get away!"

                "Hey!! I think I can see now!!" Jeroun yelled as a lightning flash lit up the sky. "Yuck! Kuronue, Karasu's groping Kurama!" 

                "Tattletale." 

                "Pervert!" There was a loud _WHACK _followed by a grunt. 

                "Kuronue, that wasn't Karasu."

                "Gomen, Kurama."

                "Was that actually aiming, chimera?" 

                "Shut up!" There was another loud _WHACK. _

                "Kuro . . . that wasn't Karasu either."

                "Gomen, Kurama." (A/N: I know that whole thing was pointless, but it was just begging to be written.) Suddenly a flashlight shone in their faces. Shiori stood in the doorway holding the said flashlight, watching them.

                "What's going on here?" She demanded. "You boys have been making enough noise to wake the entire neighborhood!" 

                "He started it!" Jeroun whined, pointing at Karasu.   
                "I did not!" Karasu whined. 

                "Shush! And go to sleep!" Shiori said, throwing Kurama a flashlight and turning away from them to walk down the hall. Once the light had completely vanished, Kurama turned on his own flashlight and looked at the rest of the group. Kuronue opened his mouth, but was cut off.

                "Kurama? Yo-you in here?" 

                "Kuwabara?" Kurama flashed the light on the human in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" He got up and pulled the human into the room. 

                "Something's up," Kuwabara said. "And I have a question I think you guys have the answer to." When no one else spoke, Kuwabara continued. "Is . . . Yukina's brother . . . Hiei?" Kurama, Karasu, Kuronue, and Jeroun looked quickly of one another-all had been forcefully reminded of the relationship by Hiei in one of the fire youkai's attempts to keep the secret. 

                "Well . . . there's no use in lying," Kurama said. "Yes, Hiei is Yukina's brother." Kurama looked down at the ground, fiddling nervously with a strand of red hair as he spoke. "I'm sorry, Kuwabara, Hiei doesn't want to tell her, and he figures that the less people know, the less likely Yukina is to find out." 

                "Why doesn't he want to tell her?" Kuwabara demanded. 

                "He . . . I think the main reason why is because Hiei doesn't want to ruin Yukina' image of her brother because of what he is," Kurama said. Kuwabara thought for a moment.

                "I can understand that," Kuwabara said. "But he still has to tell her! She's in pain! The only thing she ever wants to talk about is her brother, and how she thinks that he hates her, and sometimes she cries! If Hiei really cares about her that much, then why does he let her go through so much pain because of him?" There was a stunned silence in the room. No one answered Kuwabara's question. "Fine. If none of you have anything smart to say, then I'm leaving." 

                "What got into him?" Karasu asked once Kuwabara had gone. "That's not at all like the big, bumbling idiot I remember from when we first met." 

                "I suppose even Kuwabara has something smart to say every once in a while," Kuronue said. "Too bad Jeroun can't be more like that." The aforementioned youkai stuck his tongue out at Kuronue. Kurama, however, stayed silent, deeply contemplating what Kuwabara had said. 

                "Kazuma?" Kuwabara rolled over in his cot to face Yukina, who was sleeping on the couch in Kurama's living room. 

                "What?" Kuwabara asked, still slightly ruffled by the conversation that had taken place moments before. He winced-he knew he sounded rude. "Sorry. What's wrong?" 

                "What were you and the others talking about up there?" Yukina whispered. "You looked angry when you came back."

                "It's nothing," Kuwabara said, rolling back over. With that, the occupants of the house fell into a restless, worried sleep.   

Okay, so this was a kinda pointless chapter. But that's okay! At least the plot moved along a little bit. Well . . . how'd you like it? Please review!


	7. Thoughts and an ice storm

Hello!! 

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

                Hiei smirked. He could hear Shazagen pacing in his lair, cursing Kurama, Kuronue, Karasu, and Jeroun for all he was worth. There was a loud growl, a bang, and then the sound of glass breaking. A moment later Shazagen himself appeared, nursing a badly cut, bleeding hand. Hiei's grin grew wider, and he made no move to struggle against the bonds that held him. 

                "What did you punch this time?" Hiei asked in a bored tone, trying to insult the flustered youkai. Shazagen growled. "The window again? Or did you break a vase?" Hiei was rewarded for his remarks with a punch to the jaw. His eyes narrowed and the Jagan glowed dangerously, but Hiei did nothing.

                "Remember," Shazagen said once he noticed the glowing Jagan. "Those bonds are yoki-resistant." The Jagan closed behind Hiei's bandana. 

                "I _will _escape," Hiei growled. 

                "You amuse me," Shazagen said. "There _is _no escape. Not for you, anyway." He held up the keys to Hiei's bonds, taunting the fire youkai. "Either way, I need information. Your _friends-" he spoke the word as if it were a curse "-are hindering my plans for revenge. In short, they are protecting your sister. I need you to tell me what their weaknesses are." There was a moment of silence in which Hiei glared at Shazagen. "I should have known that you would not speak. Tell me, Hiei, and I may reconsider hurting your sister and just kill you." _

                ". . . You'd let Yukina go?" 

                "Yes," Shazagen lied. When Hiei said nothing more, Shazagen frowned. "Tell me your friend's weaknesses, or I will just kill you, them, _and your sister." (A/N: I just realized this is rather cheesy and cliché. Ah, what the heck, who cares?) _

                "How do I know you'd keep your word?" Hiei asked, keeping his voice even. "Your record speaks against you here, Shazagen. It's said you're not one to keep to your word." 

                "It's either this, or your sister's death," Shazagen hissed. "So I advise you not to question if I'm trustworthy or not." 

                "I won't say a thing," Hiei whispered. "You won't get past Kurama, either." Shazagen spat in Hiei's face and left the room. As he walked away, he heard a voice. 

                "Shazagen-sama!!" Shazagen turned to se a younger oni-like youkai running up to him. "I heard what happened," the youkai explained. "And I thought that instead of asking or bribing him, you should just probe his brain for the information you need."

                "And just how do we do that?" Shazagen demanded. "None of us have a Jagan eye or anything!!" The younger youkai grinned. "You have a plan?"

                "I have a potion that can read minds," he whispered. "Take it, and then you merely have to be in the room with Hiei to read his mind like an open book."

                "I like the sound of this," Shazagen whispered. "Give it to me." 

                Yukina stood in front of Kurama's living room window, staring out into the yard silently. It was early-the sun hadn't risen yet. Yukina turned slightly as she heard Kuwabara wake up, and a moment later the human joined her at the window. 

                "Wow," Kuwabara said. It turned out that the thunderstorm that had started the night before had turned into an ice storm. Shards of ice still swirled about outside, propelled by their own force, creating a dance of sorts. (A/N: I know this is probably unrealistic, but hey, we all get crazy weather sometimes. And besides, this is one of those times I call on my power as the authoress to do whatever I want.)

                "It's pretty, isn't it?" Yukina whispered a moment later. "It must have gotten very cold last night for it to do this." She frowned suddenly. "I hope my birds are all right." 

                "I'm sure they are," Shiori said, coming up behind Yukina and Kuwabara. She gave Kuwabara a stern look. "Aren't you cold?"

                "Huh?"

                Shiori motioned to the lights, which were still out. "The power never came on again last night," she explained. "And we have no heat." Kuwabara took a moment to look at her. She was bundled up in a heavy winter coat, with thin gloves covering her hands. 

                "Now that you mention it, there's a chill in here," Kuwabara said. He looked at Yukina, who shook her head. 

                "The cold doesn't bother me," she said. "I'm a koorime, remember?" She smiled sweetly at Kuwabara, who had begun to shiver.

                "Oh, dear," she said. "Come on up to Shuichi's room with me and we'll see if he has any winter things that fit you." 

                "I don't think he would," Kuwabara said, rubbing his arms. Once up the stairs, they peered into Kurama's room. Surprisingly, the fox was still asleep, along with Jeroun, Karasu, and Kuronue. Kurama and Kuronue were propped up against a wall next to each other; Kuronue had his head on Kurama's shoulder. Karasu was curled into a small ball at Kurama's feet, and Jeroun was on his back in the middle of the room snoring loudly. Shiori smiled and walked over to Kurama.

                "Shuichi," she whispered. Kurama opened one eye and stared groggily at his mother. "Come on, we need to get you guys bundled up." Kurama looked around the room, taking in the scene before him, and got up, completely ignoring the fact Kuronue's head was on his shoulder. Kuronue simply fell to the floor next to Karasu and continued to snore. 

                "Kuro," Kurama said somewhat wearily, shaking the chimera's shoulder. "Come on, Kuronue. You too, Karasu." Karasu uncurled, and Kuronue swatted at Kurama's hand before opening both eyes. 

                "K'rama?" 

                "Come on," Kurama said. When Karasu still did nothing, Kurama aimed a kick at him and earned a scolding from Shiori. "Gomen, Karasu," Kurama apologized with Shiori's prompting. The crow didn't seem to mind as he got up and shook Jeroun awake, swearing that he'd blow the other youkai up if he snored too loudly again. 

                "You'll keep your bombs to yourself," Shiori told him sternly as Kurama scrambled to find cover. "Come on, Shuu." Kuronue muffled laughter and Karasu smirked at the sound of the nickname. A few moments later Shiori found a coat that was obviously too big for Kurama and handed it to Kuwabara. 

                "I can find the rest of them something," Kurama said, motioning to Kuronue, Karasu, and Jeroun to show who he meant. Shiori nodded and left the room, saying something about starting a fire in the fireplace to cook breakfast with. 

                "Does this happen often?" Kuronue asked ten minutes later as the group struggled into the coats that Kurama had found them. 

                "Not that I can remember," Kurama said. "It usually doesn't rain this close to winter. Karasu, don't blow that coat up, it's the only one we have for you." Karasu stuck out his lower lip, mock-pouting and shoved an arm into the coat. Once bundled up, the group went downstairs. 

                "All right then," Shiori said, getting up from in front of the fireplace and placing her hands on her hips, trying to look important. "In case any of you haven't gotten the point, there's been an ice storm. None of you are going out until the roads are cleared, and considering the whole town seems to be out of power, that's going to take a while. 

                "How do you know the whole town's down?" Karasu asked. 

                "The rain was all over town last night," she said. "It's only a logical guess." Karasu nodded. "Now come here, I'm going to help you all get food cooked for yourselves." 

Back in the Makai with Shazagen and Hiei. . . . 

                Shazagen stared at the bottle of green potion in front of him. The youkai had said that this would allow Shazagen to read Hiei's mind without the use of any tool. 

                "It only lasts thirty minutes, mind," the youkai's warning rang clearly in Shazagen's head. "So make sure everything is in place." Shazagen sighed. He knew Hiei would be awake, and that was all he really needed, but there was something out of place. He shrugged, grabbed the bottle, opened it, and quickly drank the potion. He frowned after a moment or two.

                "I don't feel any different," he muttered, walking down to Hiei's cell. The fire youkai greeted Shazagen with the usual scowl, but Shazagen leaned against the wall and waited for the potion to start working for him. 

                _What is he doing here? Hiei's thoughts rang loud and clear in Shazagen's head a moment later. __Why isn't he trying to make me tell him everyone's weaknesses? Something's up. Bastard thinks he can bribe me. Hiei glared at Shazagen, who was currently using his yoki to probe deeper into Hiei's mind. Hiei felt the probing, and although he didn't know what it was, growled and tried to shake Shazagen off. Within a moment, Shazagen found images of the redhead that claimed to be Kurama smiling and laughing with an older woman. _

                _His "mother", Shazagen realized as he probed deeper. He smiled. _This stuff works like a charm! And Hiei doesn't even realize what I'm doing! __

                _Damn it, why does he have that, "I'm-beating-you-without-you-knowing-it," smirk on his face? He knows nothing! Hiei snarled and tried to throw Shazagen off again. Shazagen found others, Yusuke protecting his friend, Kuwabara flirting with Yukina (also finding Hiei's loathing within that memory), something Hiei called "sweet snow", Jeroun being stupid, Karasu . . . well, he couldn't find anything for Karasu, save the odd demented obsession he had with Kurama. Satisfied with the information he held, he left the room. _

                "So, if I can get Kurama's mother, then I've got him trapped," Shazagen said. "Kuronue's pendant . . . if I can get those two down, then I can focus on actually fighting Yusuke and Karasu . . . hmm . . . maybe that crow'd go after Kurama if he was in a life-threatening situation." That was easy enough. "If I can get three trapped, and maybe Jeroun out of the way before the battle-Hiei said he was stupid-then I think I can get to Yukina, to trap the orange-haired one." He had not gotten Kuwabara's name, only the numerous insulting nicknames Hiei had given him. "With the orange-haired one having his life threatened, then maybe that Yusuke will give up to protect them." Complicated, yes, Shazagen knew, but not completely undoable with the resources he had.   

Ya know, it's pathetic . . . I don't even understand what Shazagen's saying. I get the point though. 

Hiei: hmm . . . maybe you're not as stupid as Kuwabara. 

Nagem: WHAT???

Kurama: Down, Nagem. *Is seen holding Nagem away from Hiei* Please review!


	8. Battle Begin

Hey! I'm _really really sorry _about not updating sooner. I got this really bad case of writer's block that I'm not entirely sure I'm out of. Another thing-I still have a minor case of god's-cursed writer's block, so forgive me if the characters are OOC. And this is not the best chapter in the world. 

Madame Arrow Foxfire- Yeah, I think Kuro did die before he got to the pendant. But, where's Kuronue without the pendant? Just go with the flow. Say he was able to grab it before they took him to jail. (remember, in this fic, Kuronue never died, he was taken to prison and healed.)

Dragon Scythe-Yeah, I know, it's pathetic. But Shazagen and I know what's going on here. 

The last thing Hiei could remember was being force-fed water that smelled like it had sleeping potion in it. Within moments, he had passed out, his head hanging limply over his chest. Shazagen smiled. When Hiei woke up, they would all be gone, tearing apart Yukina's defenses. No doubt, Hiei would dash to the Ningenkai in an attempt to save his sister. When he got there, Shazagen would have Yukina in his grasp, and kill the koorime right in front of Hiei's eyes. It was perfect. 

"Shall we move out, Shazagen-sama?" a small youkai appeared at Shazagen's elbow. 

"Yes, remember what I told you all to do," he whispered. The small youkai bowed and vanished. 

"Here is where I get my revenge," he whispered. He watched Hiei for a few moments. A large youkai came bumbling up to him.

"The portal to the Ningenkai is open," he said. "Follow me." Shazagen followed the youkai outside and then through trees until he found what seemed to be a glowing hole in the middle of the air. He smiled and motioned to his youkai army, and then walked through the portal. 

  


"It is _cold _in here." 

"I know. The fire went out." 

"WE'RE ALL GONNA FREEZE TO DEATH!!!" 

"Calm down, Jeroun. No one's gonna freeze."

"Let's be logical here. What could we do to warm this place up?"

"Stove?"

"Broken."

" . . . I could blow something up." 

"NO!!"

"You guys are no fun," Karasu whimpered, playing with a small string he found. He smiled when it ignited with a _pop!_, sending a small waft of smoke into the room. "See? It can make a fire." Kurama shook his head as Kuronue leaned in closer to Karasu, peering at what used to be the string. 

"You know what? He may just have an idea there," Kuronue said. "We could put a bunch of logs in the fireplace, have him blow one up . . . . "

_BOOM. _

"What was that?" Kurama asked as everyone jumped to their feet. There was another loud boom. 

"It's not a bomb," Karasu said. What he meant was "It wasn't me." There was silence. "Guys, I don't like this." 

"Neither do I," Kuronue said. 

"'Kassan, you and Yukina hide somewhere safe," Kurama said, trying to work out a plan in his head. "Kuronue, Karasu, Jeroun, and I will go check it out." Shiori nodded and ushered Yukina into the kitchen. 

"What about me?" Kuwabara asked once the girls were gone. Kurama paused and thought a moment, while Kuronue, Karasu and Jeroun proceeded outside, despite the ice storm. Kurama grabbed the phone and tossed it to Kuwabara.

"Call Yusuke," he said. "We may need him. Then you can go with Shiori and Yukina, just in case something happens.

"Why are we making such a big deal?" Yukina asked, reappearing in the kitchen doorway to see what was wrong. "There's no proof that it's anything more than a tree branch falling or something."

"I sense something," Kurama said. "Something big, and evil. Just not good." Kurama looked Yukina straight in the eye. "Listen, you may be right, but until I'm sure, I don't want to take any chances." 

"All right," Yukina whispered, and rejoined Shiori. Kuwabara began dialing Yusuke's number just as Jeroun rushed up behind Kurama. 

"Kurama, it's not good," he gasped. "There's an army of youkai out there, I'd say there's more than a thousand, easy." Kurama cursed under his breath at his bad luck. "Kuronue and Karasu are going to meet them head-on." 

"WHAT??" Kurama yelled, whirling to face Jeroun. Jeroun flinched, and repeated what he had said again. Kurama grabbed Jeroun by the collar and began to drag him outside. "Kuwabara! Tell Yusuke we need him down here as soon as possible." Kuwabara repeated the message into the phone as Kurama and Jeroun walked out the door. Once outside, Kurama cursed loudly as he saw what was going on. "There's too many for just us."

"Come on! We can take 'em!" Jeroun yelled. "There's no reason why not!!" Jeroun jumped away as Kurama's hair suddenly grew longer and went silver. The next moment, Youko Kurama smirked and looked Jeroun in the eye. 

"You know what? You may be right," Kurama said. "Come on, and don't screw this up." Kurama jumped into the mess of youkai where Karasu and Kuronue were already fighting. Jeroun watched Karasu blow up a few youkai then frowned. 

"_Why _does he seem so much different when he's Youko?" Jeroun whined as he joined the battle, decapitating a youkai with his bare hands. 

Sorry it's so short. The next chapter will be longer, I promise. Oh, and don't expect another update too soon, I've got alot of other things to work on right now. Er, review?


	9. Out of Time

Replies to the reviews!

Madame Arrow Foxfire: That's okay, I'm sure a lot of people forget that Kuronue didn't die in this fic. Maybe it's semi-AU or something

Dragon Scythe- I don't usually get writer's block (when I can't get ideas and can't write as well as I normally do) very often, so it was really hard on me. You should have seen me in my writing class . . . XP

Er, I've decided that A Chance Reunion and Discovering Family will be the first two stories in a series about YYH (mainly decided because I already have the next two stories of the series planned out, and I don't think you'd call them sequels, they just happen after everything else) The thing is, I don't know what to call the series quite yet. I've gone through names in my head, but nothing sounds quite right. So, here's where you guys and gals come in. Does anyone have any ideas for names for this series? Please? If you do, please include the name in your review. 

Much Thanks!

Nagem

  


Red eyes opened slowly as their owner awakened from a deep sleep. Hiei groaned, sitting up on the cold dungeon floor, rubbing his eyes of the sleep that still threatened to overtake them. He blinked, any memory of his former captivity gone. Getting up, he stretched out the stiffness in his muscles, wondering why they refused to move for him, almost as if he hadn't used them in a while. 

_What's wrong with me? _Hiei wondered. _It's as if I was held captive or something. _With a grunt, he sat down hard on the stone floor, his face dark with deep thought. He groaned, he paced, he bit his lip until it bled, but nothing seemed to remind what the problem was. He reviewed things in his head. He was in a dungeon, just having woken up from a deep sleep. There was also a sense of urgency racing through his blood. Why? 

_The last thing I can remember is . . . giving a hiruiseki to Yukina, _Hiei thought. _YUKINA!!! _Memories flooded back. Shazagen . . . torturing Yukina, his sister. Shazagen with the "I'm-beating-you-without-you-knowing-it" smirk. _What did he do to her??_ Hiei bounded to his feet, racing out of the dungeon, toward the closest portal he knew of. 

_Yukina had _better _be alive, _Hiei thought.

  


Shiori, Yukina, and Kuwabara tensed as they heard the sounds of the battle outside moving farther away. Yukina glanced quickly at Kuwabara who was pale and sweating. His thoughts were obvious-if Kurama, Kuronue, Karasu and Jeroun were far away, the less likely he was to get help from them. Shiori gritted her teeth, thinking the same thing. 

"It's cold outside," Shiori said finally, breaking the tense silence. "I hope they're all right." 

"Minamino-san, could we please not talk about these things?" Yukina whispered. "It gets me nervous." Kuwabara, who usually stood up for Yukina, remained silent, honestly too scared to say anything. "Kazuma? Is something wrong?"

"I hope Urameshi gets here soon," Kuwabara grunted. He was surprised he could open his mouth and not be sick. The last time he could ever remember being this nervous was when they had faced team Toguro in the finals of the Dark Tournament (A/N: I know this is pathetic, but could someone tell me what it's called in the Japanese version? I can't remember it.) 

"Do you think we need help?" Shiori asked sharply, glancing at the orange-haired boy. Kuwabara immediately slapped on a fake grin and turned to Shiori. 

"Of course not! You've got the Great Kazuma Kuwabara protecting you!!" Kuwabara said, getting up and thumping a hand to his chest, trying to be the image of strength. Shoiri bit her tongue to stop a snide remark at the boy's behavior. She felt he wouldn't like it. (A/N: Hm, that's not like her, is it? I could turn this little odd bit of behavior into something. . . . ) Yukina gasped suddenly. 

"Kazuma! Get down! I think someone's coming!" She and Shiori each grabbed one of his arms, dragging him to the ground. Pouting, he stayed there, listening as they heard the door open, and youkai entered the house, searching for them. 

"Shazagen-sama said to get the little one with the blue hair," one scratchy voice said. 

"Didn't he say something about a ningen, too?" A deep voice asked. 

"Well, yeah, he said an older-looking ningen woman," raspy-voice said. It suddenly giggled. "I bet ningen women don't look very pretty!!"

_Well _excuse _me for being human, _Shiori thought sarcastically. 

"Look what we have here," deep-voice said. The three looked up, Yukina shrieking when they saw an ugly face looming over them. Kuwabara was on his feet, drawing the spirit sword, swinging it at the youkai. It easily dodged and went to attack with long, sharp claws. 

"Yukina! Get outta here!" When the koorime hesitated, Shiori grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the battle between ningen and youkai. Unfortunately for them, another-the scratchy-voiced speaker-caught up to them as they raced for the backyard. When it went to grab for Yukina, Shiori grabbed a nearby vase, and-with a silent apology to her son for what was sure to ruin the flowers inside-rammed it into the top of the youkai's head, breaking it. He stood shocked for a second while Shiori reclaimed Yukina and continued leading her outside. 

"Ningen BITCH!!" the youkai screeched, his raspy voice cracking over the high-pitched shriek of rage. He lunged, and a set of sharp claws raked down Shiori's back. The woman screamed, and went down hard. Yukina knelt over her friend, hands outstretched, but before the koorime could heal her, the youkai grabbed her hair, pulling her toward him, and slapped her across the face. Yukina screamed. There was some sort of yell from where Kuwabara and the deep-voiced youkai were, then a thump, and Kuwabara's grunt. 

"Kazuma!" Yukina gasped, tears in her eyes from the rough hand pulling her hair. A moment later, the deep-voiced youkai appeared, carrying an unconscious Kuwabara. They grinned and made their way outside, pausing to grab Shiori. 

  


"Kuronue! DUCK!!!" 

"Thanks, Kara-AH! ARE THEY AIMING FOR ME OR SOMETHING??"

"Er, isn't that the point of fighting?"

Kuronue danced out of reach of an ogre as it swung at him. He heard loud booming sounds as Karasu blew up several of the ogres under Shazagen's command. Kuronue pulled out a scythe and threw it at the ogre that had swung at him moments before. Somehow, they had made the youkai-army they were fighting to a less populated area. It didn't change the fact that ice coated everything, and it was really cold.

"Got ya," he whispered, shivering, as he removed the scythe from the body. Two more scythes, and two more ogres fell dead on the ground. "These things are getting dirty," he mumbled as he glanced at his weapons as he threw them once more. He yelped as two hands wrapped about his neck from the behind as he pried a blade out of another ogre's body. Yet another ogre had him trapped. Kuronue gasped for air as he tried to kick the thing. No use, he was helpless. 

"Kuro!" A voice yelled. A moment later Kuronue felt the hands loosen their grip as the ogre fell to the ground behind him. Gasping, he turned to look at it; there was a blood-red rose sticking out of its throat. Youko Kurama threw another rose at an offending attacker as he made his way over to where his partner was. "Are you all right? I've been looking for you ever since I got into this maze." 

"I'm fine," Kuronue said. "What about you?" He surveyed the various wounds on his partner's arms and legs. Kurama shrugged.

"I'm all right," he said. "I've been better, but I'm all right." Kuronue nodded, and then stiffened as ogres closed in on them, having realized the two former-thieves were talking and had lowered their guard. "Damn it." They jumped as the ogres charged, Kurama calling on various plants to rip the attackers into shreds, Kuronue throwing scythes at the ones who tried to stop Kurama. 

"AND YOU CAN HAVE THAT!! AND SOME O' THAT!!!" Kurama and Kuronue were momentarily startled when they heard Jeroun's bellowing as the youkai made his way through the ogres. "AND YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF MY WAY!!! _MOVE IT!!_" 

"What happened to him?" Kurama asked, nearly forgetting that he was supposed to duck when his opponent swung a fist at him. The kitsune danced out of the way just in time, retaliating with a strong side-kick to the ogre's neck. 

"I don't want to even guess," Kuronue said. A moment later Jeroun appeared in front of them, panting as he held two ogres under his arms, crushing their bones. He smiled at Kurama and Kuronue, who sweat dropped. 

"All right," he said, dropping the obviously-dead ogres. "How's it going? Body count, anyone? I've killed about twenty-nine so far." Kurama and Kuronue's mouths hung open as they quickly glanced at each other before looking back at the third youkai. 

"Lost count," they said together. 

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!" Karasu's voice screamed a moment before a large _BOOM _sounded, presumably one of Karasu's bombs. The ground shook and ogres shrieked in pain, being evaporated by the mere shockwaves of the explosion. Jeroun and Kuronue winced, Kurama fell to his knees with his hands over his sensitive ears, holding them flat to his skull, tears in his eyes caused by the impossibly high-pitched wailing of the ogres and the force of the explosion. There was an eerie silence after the calamity died down, not one ogre moved, even Kurama hardly dared to open his eyes and bring his head up. There was a displacement of air, and Karasu appeared in front of them, grinning widely while the other three youkai were astounded by the power he displayed. Kurama dully noted the crow's normally black hair had gone a bright blonde. "You all right Kurama? I forgot you have sensitive ears." 

"I'm . . . all right," Kurama said, getting up. They looked about them, nearly every ogre where Karasu had detonated lay dead on the ground while the others scurried away, afraid to meet the same fate as their comrades. 

"No! Don't go! I need you all here!" A large ogre in the middle of it all shouted. "You can't give up on me now, after everything we've been planning!" He caught sight of Karasu, Kurama, Kuronue, and Jeroun and backed away a few steps. Kurama, taking the lead, stepped forward and grabbed the youkai by the collar, snarling in his face as he tried to fight the kitsune's hold. He fell limp in Kurama's death-grip.

"So you're the one who ordered the attack on Yukina," Kurama growled, wondering where Hiei was and what the fire youkai would do once he found out. Little did Kurama know that Hiei already knew, but had been asleep deep in the Makai, unable to do anything, and was now racing back to the Ningenkai, exactly as Shazagen had planned. 

"Yes, I am," the ogre said."My name is Shazagen. Hiei beat me once, so I came back."

"For revenge," Kuronue said behind Kurama. "Geez, this is really starting to make sense now." Karasu and Jeroun nodded. "Well, Kurama, I say we get him to tell us where Hiei is, then kill him."

"Yes, and if you kill him, the ice maiden and this pretty little ningen woman go bye-bye, too," announced a raspy voice from behind them.

Mwahahahahaha. Cliffie. Nagem is evil, yes?? Please review, and include any names in the review!! (Actually, feel free to e-mail me if you think of one after you review. Check my bio for my e-mail.) 


	10. Final battle

Rrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh. 

That's all I have to say. 

Rrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh. 

Ahem, sorry. I'm in a bad mood. I haven't been able to work on my fics because I lost the data, and then I have this really project due tomorrow, so I've been working on that. Also, those are reasons this chapter is so short. I felt you guys (being the faithful reviewers that you are-thank you!!) deserved an update, and I didn't have the time to make a really long chapter. 

Well, please R&R!!! ^_^

Madame Arrow Foxfire- I didn't think of Yukina putting up a shield, but I can cover it up. *points to the chapter* 

Dragon Scythe- Your review confused me, but I suppose that's because I confused you. As for the scythes, I was talking about the throwing-blades that Kuronue uses in his appearance (it was him, even if it wasn't _really _him. Hang on, that doesn't make sense.) in the movie. If you know what I'm talking about, and the blades are called something else, please let me know, I don't like to sound stupid and confuse my readers. The name thing-A chance Reunion and Discovering Family are the first two installments in a series I'm writing. What I was asking for was a name for the series. Thanks for your efforts, though.

"Yes, and if you kill him, the ice maiden and this pretty little ningen woman go bye-bye, too," announced a raspy voice from behind them. Kurama spun around, ears flat to his skull, not dropping Shazagen. He hissed as he saw the unconscious Shiori; one of the youkai had a knife to her throat, ready to slit it if Kurama and his friends showed any sign of killing Shazagen. Next to him, a thinner youkai had a quivering, weeping Yukina pressed against him, a knife to her throat as well. A quick glance around, and Kurama saw Kuwabara, the ningen having been flung face-down on the ground, unconscious. Kurama's grip on Shazagen's neck loosened. 

"Don't mind me!!" Yukina cried. "Kill him!" Kurama blinked. That was probably the most violent thing the little koorime had ever said in her life. 

"That doesn't sound very much like Yukina to me," Kuronue said. "It sounds more like-"

"Do you want him to kill you?" Karasu asked, glaring at Kuronue, wondering if the chimera had a death-wish. 

"Who?" Jeroun asked. "H-"

"HUSH!!" Kuronue and Karasu whisper-screamed, (A/N: you know, like when you whisper really loudly.) clapping their hands to Jeroun's mouth. Kurama flung Shazagen at his comrades. 

"Let my 'kassan go," he growled. "Or I _will _kill him." Shazagen got to his feet and made a high-pitched sound in his throat. Kurama felt a sharp stab to the back of his neck, and spun around, trying to see what caused it. He wanted to cry out as he saw Jeroun, Kuronue, and Karasu fall, but his mouth wasn't obeying him. His vision went black as he felt his knees go out from under him. 

Shazagen smiled as he stared at the four youkai. He had used the same trick on Hiei. Too bad the fire youkai wasn't there to warn them about that. He whistled, and several oni, who had run away when Karasu had detonated the bomb, appeared. 

"Tie them up, and make sure they're bound tightly," Shazagen said. "Youko Kurama and Kuronue have a knack for being able to escape complicated situations." He turned as the oni did what they were told. Shazagen felt an approaching youkai, and turned, smiling, to greet the owner. 

"SHAZAGEN!!!" Hiei's yell was full of rage as the fire youkai appeared. "What the hell are you doing?" His eyes drifted to Yukina who was struggling against her captor. "If you've hurt her, I swear. . . . "

"You'll kill me?" Shazagen asked, his voice amused. "Think again, Hiei. Look around you. Who has your friends?" Shazagen's voice lowered to a deadly whisper. "Your _sister_." Hiei's eyes darted around, taking in the scene. An unconscious Kurama, Kuronue, Karasu and Jeroun were being tied up by hoards of oni. "Don't worry, Hiei, I didn't poison them like I did you. They're only sleeping, and for a short while. I want everyone to see that I beat you Hiei." 

"Hiei!!" The female voice rang out after Shazagen's speech. Hiei looked over to see Yukina struggling against her captor, tears falling out of her eyes rapidly, hitting the ground with a gentle _clink-clink _sound. "Hiei, I'm sorry! I tried to put up a shield, but I was too scared."

"It's not your fault, Yukina," Hiei said, cutting off the koorime's cries. "It's mine. I should have been here, but I wasn't." 

"So, Hiei," Shazagen said. "Are we going to fight now?" 

"No," Hiei hissed. "You have my friends and won't hesitate to kill them if I happen to win." 

"True," Shazagen hissed. "That's why you'll _lose!_" He tossed a large ball of energy at Hiei. Not wanting to see what it did, Hiei jumped out of the way, cursing Shazagen. About to draw his katana, Hiei's eyes drifted over to where Yukina was being bound to the forms of Kurama, Kuronue, Karasu, and Jeroun. His fingers clenched, then opened, leaving the sword sheathed. Shazagen saw this and smiled. 

"SPIRIT GUN!!!" The cry came from out of nowhere and cut through half the oni who were guarding the tied-up Kurama, Kuronue, Karasu, Jeroun, and Yukina. Hiei's eyes widened as he recognized Yusuke Urameshi's trademark attack. Shazagen turned to see what was happening. Hiei drew his katana, and, landing next to Shazagen, made a quick slash from the oni's shoulder to just above his butt. Shazagen whirled, trying to punch Hiei, but the little fire youkai was out of the way before Shazagen even had his head turned around. 

"Yeah! Get 'em, Hiei!" Yusuke yelled as his shotgun tore through the rest of Shazagen's forces. Yusuke quickly ran over and began untying his friends, praying for Hiei's victory. Hiei ignored the comment and focused on dodging Shazagen's quickening attacks. He vanished, and Shazagen slowed, looking around. 

"You're just not good enough, Shazagen," Hiei said, appearing behind the oni. As he turned around, Hiei lopped off his head with one swift swing. The decapitated oni's claws whirled around, trying to catch Hiei in their grasp. They managed to hit him once, leaving a bloody mark on his chest. Hiei cursed and jumped backward. 

"Yeah!!" Yusuke yelled, having finished undoing the bonds on their friends. "All right, Hiei!!" Yusuke whooped and jumped, throwing one fist into the air. Hiei felt the corners of his mouth tugging backward in a grin, but a small figure ran up to him and threw its arms around his shoulders. 

"You're all right!" Yukina sobbed into his shoulder. "I was . . . so worried about you." Hiei wrapped his arms around her and patted her shoulder awkwardly. "Thank goodness you're all right." Yusuke stopped cheering and smiled at them. There were a few moments of blissful silence . . . until Kuwabara woke up.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO HER, SHRIMP???" Hiei tensed as Yukina let go of him, ready to attack if the ningen got out of control. Kuwabara blundered toward them, and Hiei made a fist, ready to punch. Before he could though, Yukina caught Kuwabara mid-stride with her words. 

"Kazuma," she said. "Hiei just saved us all." Kuwabara scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"So?" he said. 

"Kazuma, we are in debt to Hiei's kindness," Yukina said, putting a hand on her brother's shoulder. "Hiei, what do you want from me?" Hiei felt his mind go numb with shock. What could he ask her for, this girl he'd known for the few moments before he was tossed off a cliff. The girl he'd been searching for; for so long-his _sister._ Everything was silent, save for the footsteps announcing that Kuronue, Kurama, Karasu, and Jeroun had joined the crowd-Kurama carrying his mother, who was still unconscious. Hiei turned away from Yukina. 

"Forgive me," he said, loud enough for only her to hear, before he jumped off. 

Nagem: *lets out breath* Whooooooooooooooooooo. That took a while. 

Kuronue: *reading over chapter* Don't you think Hiei's being a little melodramatic here?

Nagem: Huh? 

Aurora (the muse. If you've read my bio, you know about her): No, I think it's nice.

Kuronue: It was mushy, and you like the mushy stuff, so you shouldn't be allowed to vote. 

Aurora: *pouting* that's not nice!

Nagem: Review, please. 

Oh!!! I almost forgot. Does anyone like the movie Finding Nemo?? Well, if you do, I recommend the yyh parody, "Finding Yukina," by Tan. (it's co-written by yours truly) Please read it and take the time to drop Tan-chan a review!! (I read them, so don't say anything bad about me) 


	11. I know who you are

YAY!!! This chapter is done!! Yayness!! It took me forever to write, I think I'm coming down with writer's block again. I had a presentation at school today, and my braces were tightened yesterday, and I am in pain. 

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Oh, and this is a little strange at first, but keep reading. Everything clears up in the end.

"Kurama?"

The kitsune looked up from his book as he heard his name called. Yukina stood in front of him, hands clasped in front of her, eyes downcast, looking at the ground. Kurama folded a page to mark his spot, and gave the koorime his attention.

"What's the matter, Yukina?" Kurama asked. It had been two days since Shazagen's defeat. Everyone, excluding Hiei, had taken refuge inside Kurama's house to wait out the rest of the ice storm. They were still waiting-the power hadn't even come back on. At the moment they were in the living room, bundled up with a large fire going to keep them warm. Kurama had been reading on the floor, reading. Kuronue and Jeroun were asleep on the couch, and Shiori was feeding the fire. Karasu, Yusuke, and Kuwabara were playing the crow's version of hot potato. There was a noticeable yet soft boom as the potato blew up in Yusuke's face. He huffed, threw the ashes into the fire, and went to get another one. Karasu had a large grin plastered across his face. 

"Kurama," Yukina said, sitting down next to him. "What did Hiei mean when he said, 'Forgive me'?" Kurama bit his lip. He had two options-he could lie, or he could tell Yukina the truth. Yukina longed to find her brother, and Kurama wanted to help all he could, but he would never betray Hiei by saying something the fire koorime didn't want him to. Hiei was Kurama's friend, that and the fact that if he _did _tell Hiei, there would be one very dead youko as soon as he found out. 

_Why does everything have to be so confusing? _Kurama thought, wondering if Hiei would actually kill him. For all the trust that they shared, Kurama wouldn't put it past him. 

"Kurama?" Yukina asked softly. 

"He meant . . . so many things Yukina," Kurama said. "He meant so many things that I can't even begin to explain." 

"He told me that he knew where my brother was," the koorime said softly, staring at the carpet. "He told me that he knew my brother, but he wouldn't tell me where he was. Kurama, why does he do that? Does he not want my brother to find me?" 

"He wants. . . ." Kurama would have finished the sentence, but the lights came on, and there was a whoop from the couch, belonging to Jeroun. The youkai bounced around the living room, experimentally turning the lights on and off. Kurama and Yukina stared, and Karasu, stunned at the sudden outburst, made the potato blow up in his own face. 

"Damn it!" He cried, rubbing ash out of his eyes while Yusuke and Kuwabara laughed at him. Yukina smiled at her friends, and looked at Jeroun, who was forcing Kuronue awake and then trying to dance with the groggy chimera. She heard Karasu curse the day he and Jeroun met. Yukina smiled when she remembered the day that Kurama had introduced them all to Jeroun. Her mind wandered over the details as her friends celebrated the return of the power. The corners of her mouth turned down as a certain memory crossed her mind. 

*****flashback********

_Yukina stepped through the front door of Kurama's house, wondering where the others were. She had a bit further to travel than the others, so she was a few minutes late. Bursts of laughter suddenly came from the kitchen, and Yukina followed them._

_ "I DO NOT, YOU DAMNED NINGEN!!!" she heard Hiei yell suddenly. Yukina paused-what didn't he do? There were muffled words coming from the kitchen for a few moments, and she stepped in. _

_ "Is there something I missed?" Yukina asked. Everything paused-everyone looked at her-including the new face in the corner who had to be Jeroun. She felt Jeroun's eyes take her in for a few seconds before he opened his mouth._

_ "Hey, ma'am," he said, obviously talking to her. "You and Hiei look very much alike. Are you two-mmmmmmmffffff!!" Kurama had thrown his hand over Jeroun's mouth before the youkai could utter the last word. Yukina tilted her head in confusion, but let it slide. _

************end flashback**************

Yukina frowned, her eyebrows knitting together in the center of her forehead. She and Hiei did look very much alike-the same height, the same eyes . . . Yukina could swear she felt her heart stop. Hiei had told her he knew where her brother was-but didn't want to tell her where. Whenever he had done something to hurt her, she had always seen guilt and self-loathing cross his face. He had saved her life many times, and hadn't killed Tarukene (A/N: I know I didn't spell that right, but you know who I'm talking about . . . the evil ugly dude who kidnapped Yukina before) when she asked him not to. There was no way he could be. . . . 

_Her brother, _Hiei thought. _She knows. She must have heard Shazagen say it. _He gasped and stumbled as the cut on his chest burned. He had been careless, and within two days it had become infected. It hurt beyond all hell-now he knew why he had never let a cut get infected before. 

"Damn it," he mumbled, stumbling through the trees of the Ningenkai. For two days he had been running through the Makai, killing anything unlucky enough to get in his way. But he had come back to the Ningenkai, just to know . . . "I need to see what she thinks of me," Hiei mumbled to himself. "I need to know how much I've hurt her, to see how much more I want to die after I see my sister's heart broken." The only thing he could see was the dim outline of Genkai's temple in the horizon. He let out a breath-his long journey was over-and passed out. 

Hiei woke when he felt hot water splash onto the cut on his chest. He gasped and sat up, looking around, ready to kill the first thing he saw. It surprised him that he was in a bed with soft sheets. When he looked over, he saw Yukina, quietly wringing out a wet rag into a steaming bowl of water. She put the rag onto the bedside table and set the bowl down next to it. When she looked at Hiei, she was smiling. 

"I hope you don't mind the older ningen methods of healing," she said. "I was almost out of energy after I had to heal everyone else, plus the cut is infected-I would have had to use extra energy to heal it."

"It's all right," Hiei said, looking down to the slash across his bare chest. "Thank you, Yukina."

"Hiei . . . can I ask you something?" Yukina's voice was soft. Hiei winced. This was it. 

"Hai," Hiei said. "About your brother?" Yukina nodded.

"Why don't you want my brother to find me?" she whispered. "Do you hate me?" 

"No," Hiei said slowly, unsure of what she was talking about. "Didn't you hear Shazagen?" She looked up. 

"What does Shazagen have to do with all of this?" she asked. Hiei looked at her face and saw traces of confusion. He felt the exact same way.

"Then you didn't hear him?" Hiei asked. 

"Iie," Yukina said, shaking her head slowly. Hiei smiled, sure his secret was safe. "Why are you so happy? You do hate me, you don't want me to find him, to be happy!" There were tears at the edges of her eyes. 

"No," Hiei said. "Not at all." There were a few seconds of complete silence. "Would finding your brother really make you that happy?" She nodded.

"It's you, isn't it, Hiei?" Yukina asked. "You're my brother. I'm not stupid enough not to figure it out. Did you really think I was?" 

"No," Hiei said. 

"Hiei, I need to hear it from you," Yukina cried. "Tell me, tell me that you're my brother." 

"Yukina, I am . . . I'm your brother," Hiei said, closing his eyes and waiting for her to tell him to never come near her, that she hated him. Even if she burst into tears; it would be better than the eerie silence that was slowly consuming them. Instead, the koorime did the most unexpected thing; something that Hiei would have never thought would come from her. 

_SLAP!!!_

Yukina slapped him hard across the face. 

"Yu . . . kina," Hiei muttered, backing away from her and gently prodding the small handprint on his cheek. Who knew his sister could be so violent? "You hate me then, right?"

_SLAP!!! _

"Baka!" Yukina cried, taking a moment to survey her handiwork-a red mark on each of Hiei's cheeks. The fire koorime turned his head away from her. Yukina saw two hiruiseki fall gently onto the bedsheets, and did what she meant to do all along; she threw her arms around him in a tight embrace. "I can't hate you," she mumbled. "Not when you've saved me, not when I've been looking so long and hard . . . onii-san." 

"I'm . . . sorry," Hiei murmured. There were a few awkward moments of silence before Hiei returned her embrace. It took him a few moments to realize that there were hiruiseki rapidly falling into his lap. "D-don't cry Yukina," Hiei mumbled. Yukina looked up at him. 

"I'm . . . just so happy," she said. "That we're finally together. Hiei . . . why didn't you tell me?" 

"You . . . you looked up to your brother-me," Hiei hastily corrected. "I didn't want to ruin your image of me by letting you see that I'm just a criminal, a murderer." Yukina squeezed him tighter. 

"I don't care," she said. "You've done so many good things since I met you, I didn't think about you that way." 

"You didn't?" Hiei asked. "The first time you saw me I was about to kill the bastard who kidnapped you." 

"You stopped when I asked you." Hiei opened his mouth to reply, but thought about it, and closed it, falling into a thoughtful silence. 

"YU-KI-NA!!" Kuwabara's voice rang out through the temple, surprising Hiei and Yukina out of their embrace. Hiei cursed the ningen-Yukina smiled. "YU-KI-NA!! My love, my sweet, where are you? Are you here? Call to-" An abrupt crackling sound interrupted Kuwabara. "Eep! Don't throw that thing at me!!" 

"Then shut up." Karasu's voice was soft, but it could still be heard.

"Hey, this is Genkai's temple, then?" Jeroun's voice was louder than Karasu's, but quieter than Kuwabara's. "At least it used to be-Kurama said she died of old age a few months ago." 

"Heeeeeeey, that looks pretty nice. Wonder how much it's worth?"

"Kuronue," Kurama's voice was tinged with a warning tone. 

"Gomen," Kuronue said. Yukina stepped into the main hall to greet them, Hiei following silently in the shadows. She smiled at them, and Kuwabara stepped forward, presenting her with another boquet of roses. 

"That's three times this month!!" Yukina squealed happily, but took the roses anyway. She could tell from the look on Kurama's face that they were grown by him-all the store-bought roses Kuwabara got her died quickly, which eventually led to asking for them from Kurama. "You really shouldn't, Kazuma!!"

"It's nothing!!" Kuwabara said. Yukina turned around to face the shadows that Hiei was hiding in. 

"Aren't they pretty, onii-san?" Yukina asked, smiling. She felt everyone freeze behind her. Hiei-who had found his cloak, stepped out with a , "hn".

"Hai," he said slowly. As he glanced around and saw the shocked looks on everyone's (Kurama, Kuronue, Jeroun, Karasu, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, Botan, and Koenma) faces, he grunted, "Yes, I told her. What does it matter to you?" 

"It . . . doesn't," Botan said. "I just thought that you'd never say it." 

"Hn," Hiei replied as Yukina began to usher everyone into the living room. (A/N: Must . . . keep . . . going . . . almost done. . . . *faints* That was completely random.) 

"Why does the shrimp have to be here?" Kuwabara complained. "He's such a stiff, he'll ruin all the fun!!" 

"Baka ningen," Hiei muttered. As they sat down around the "living room" (A/N: I don't know if temples have a living room, but you get the idea), Kuwabara complained loudly about Hiei's presense. 

"Shut up," Karasu said, calling a bomb into his hand. As the crow muttered threats, Kurama realized something and jumped to his feet. 

"Hang on!" he shouted, pointing at Karasu. The crow almost dropped the bomb, but saved it at the last minute. "When you came back to life, you said you didn't have enough energy to use your bombs!! How can you use them now?"

"I . . . er, lied," Karasu said with a sheepish grin on his face. 

"NANI?!?!?!?!?!?" Kurama shouted. 

"Relax, Kurama, he's already told you he's not going to hurt you!!" Jeroun shouted.

"Here we go again," Kuronue mumbled as everyone laughed at Kurama. Even Hiei had a bit of a smirk on his face. "Ah, well, at least there aren't any more evil youkai out for revenge on Hiei." 

All right then!! That's the last chapter of this story . . . I think. There's not any more I can really do with it, now that the plot's all resolved. Yell at me all you want, but this IS the last chapter. Mwahahaha. That whole line was completely and utterly useless. Oh, well, two things before I end this once and for all.

Due to certain circumstances, I'm not giving out plushies for this story. I lost my list of reviewers halfway through the story. T.T 

Also, there will be a story that comes after this; "When bamboo attacks" (I need to put that up on my bio-I renamed it.) It's not a sequel, rather a cute little story that needs these events to come before it. So, if anyone's interested, I'm hoping (key word; HOPING) to have it up in the next two to three weeks. 


End file.
